Reiner Kruecken champions the highly accomplished research divisions in particle physics and cosmology, nuclear science, applied physics, accelerator technology, and engineering. He received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Cologne, Germany. After a postdoctoral position at Berkeley Lab, he held positions at Yale University, the Technical University of Munich in Germany, and the University of British Columbia and TRIUMF in Canada. He was appointed Berkeley Lab’s Nuclear Science Division Director in June 2022, and Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences in 2026.
Cameron Geddes was appointed ATAP Division Director in March 2021. An award-winning scientist known internationally for his work on laser-plasma accelerators, Geddes has served as the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center’s Deputy for Experiments. He continues to serve as leader of the Laser-Plasma Accelerator Applications Group within the BELLA Center, as well as the next-generation kBELLA initiative. Geddes received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Daniela Leitner was appointed Engineering Division Director and the Laboratory’s Chief Engineer in October 2024. An accelerator physicist internationally known for the development of ECR ion sources and rare isotope accelerators, Leitner has held a number of leadership roles in her 20+ year career at Berkeley Lab, including work on large-scale DOE projects such as FRIB, GRETA, DESI, and the ALS-U. She served as the Engineering Division's Deputy for Science from 2017-2024. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a graduate of the DOE Project Leadership Institute program. Leitner received her Ph.D. in Physics from the Vienna Technical University for contributions to plasma physics fusion experiments.
Paul Fallon was appointed Nuclear Science Interim Division Director in July 2026. He is also the Project Director for the Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Project, GRETA. An internationally renowned nuclear physicist, his primary research is focused on understanding the structure of atomic nuclei by using and developing advanced gamma-ray detectors. Fallon obtained his PhD from the University of Liverpool, UK, in 1989, and joined LBNL’s Nuclear Science Division in 1992 as a Divisional Fellow. Since joining the laboratory, he has served as Nuclear Structure Group Leader (1997-2006), Deputy Division Director (2006-08), and Program Head (2009-2026).
Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille was appointed Physics Division Director in August 2021. Her research focuses on the study of dark matter and dark energy, and she has played instrumental roles in several international collaborations throughout her career, including the ANTARES undersea neutrino experiment, the SuperNova Legacy Survey, and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. She is currently a member of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration and has served as DESI co-spokesperson since 2018. Palanque-Delabrouille received her Ph.D. jointly from the University of Chicago and the University of Paris-Diderot, contributing to the EROS search for dark matter objects using microlensing.
