Steven Cowley

Director Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)

Steven Cowley is a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy. He’s the laboratory director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which is managed by Princeton University where Cowley is also professor of astrophysical sciences. Professor Cowley is chair of the Board of Trustees for the Faraday Institution. Prior to his current positions, Cowley was president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Cowley previously was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. Professor Cowley has held numerous advisory roles including membership of the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering and received a knighthood in 2018 for services to science and the development of nuclear fusion.