Praveen Chaudhari, chair of the ICTP Scientific Council, has been appointed director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is part of a network of national laboratories operated by the US Department of Energy. Chaudhari was employed at IBM for more than 30 years as a scientist and senior manager of research, rising to the position of vice president for science. An expert in condensed matter physics, he has published more than 150 research articles and has received 22 patents. Chaudhari has served as chair of the ICTP Scientific Council since 1998.