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From Persis, Paul and Bill: Two Years!

(Photo - Persis Drell, Paul Golan, Bill Madia)

Anniversaries are important to help us reflect on where we were and see where we are going. It has been two years since Paul Golan became head of the SLAC Site Office and two years since Persis Drell stepped in as acting director. Bill Madia joined officially as Stanford vice president for SLAC in January, 2008, but two years ago he was already heavily involved in advising lab management through the Scientific Policy Committee. The three of us thought this was a good occasion to pause and reflect.

Trust and teamwork: So much of our progress in the past two years has come about because the three of us have built strong relationships based on trust. Early in 2008, we developed, signed and distributed a “partnership commitment” statement that has formed the basis of our working relationship. Simply put, as representatives of the lab, the Site Office and the university, we work together in full partnership and we work collaboratively to solve problems.

Play to Win: There is a new management team at the laboratory. We are all here at SLAC because we are excited by the future opportunities we see and are dedicated to overcoming our challenges. Working together with Stanford and the Site Office, SLAC will be successful! We are all committed to a culture of accountability at the lab that benefits all the work we do.

One Lab: SLAC has made huge progress in achieving the goal "one lab," where decisions are made and actions taken that are in the best interest of the institution as a whole rather than optimizing locally. As a result, the laboratory is much more coherent and unified. We have a long way to go here, but the progress so far is encouraging.

Execution: Two years ago, with the help of McCallum-Turner, SLAC and Stanford realized that we had to change. One year ago, the lab was facing in the right direction. We knew where we had to change and improve. In some cases we knew how we wanted to change. Now we are executing changes in many areas and the progress in the past six months has been very impressive.

Science: We have exceeded all expectations with the turn-on of LCLS and the science output of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Science that once was considered unlikely is now reality!

We want to thank all of you for making this happen; we are no longer just looking back at an exciting past, we are looking forward to a bright and exciting future. The reinvention that has occurred here over the last two years has been on a grand scale. While our journey in many ways has just begun, look at how far we have come! Take a moment to celebrate. This is your triumph!

—Persis Drell, Paul Golan and Bill Madia
  SLAC Today, Sepbember 4, 2009