Curriculum Vitae

Jorge G. Morfín is a senior scientist in the Particle Physics Division of Fermi National Accelerator laboratory.  He received his PhD from University of Michigan in 1970 and joined III Physikalisches Institut of Technische Hochschule Aachen to work on the Gargamelle experiment at CERN.   He was deeply involved in the search for the weak neutral current, leading to its discovery in 1973, and in the determination of the structure of the nucleon through measurements of the nucleon structure functions.  While at the TH Aachen he also participated in experiments using the large BEBC bubble chamber.

He received an offer to join Fermilab in 1980 to collaborate on the design of the Tevatron Muon beam and coordinate installation of the Tevatron Muon Experiment (E665).  He simultaneously collaborated on the E-594 (Flash-Chamber Proportional-Tube Calorimeter) neutrino experiment to perform detailed measurements of the weak neutral current.  As a member of the Tevatron Muon collaboration he concentrated on detailed understanding of the structure of the nucleon and how this structure is modified in a nuclear environment. 

While on a sabbatical at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona he began a collaboration with theorists to determine the nucleon parton distribution functions that led to the formation of the CTEQ (The Coordinated Theoretical-Experimental Project on QCD) collaboration.  As a founding member of CTEQ he proposed the CTEQ Summer School, an international school on QCD Analysis and Phenomenology.  The last two Schools were held in Puebla, Mexico in 2005 with extensive participation from Latin America and in Rhodes, Greece this past July with significant participation from Eastern Europe.   He has been the chief organizer of almost all CTEQ schools that have helped bring the details of QCD and its applications to over 800 physicists from throughout the world.

He was a member of the DONUT experiment to search for the tau neutrino until beginning work on the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam (NuMI) and the MINOS long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment.  Noting that very poor knowledge of low-energy neutrino-nucleus interactions would contribute significantly to systematic errors of oscillation experiments, he formed an international collaboration to study these interactions that led to the MINERvA collaboration of which he is currently the co-spokesperson.  He is also currently on the editorial board of European Physics Journal C.

Exercising his strong support for international out-reach and cooperation, he has lectured at the:

• First Latin American School on Elementary Particle Physics. Bogota, Colombia.
• The ECFA School on Instrumentation in High Energy Physics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• The Latin-American Summer School on High Energy Physics. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (co-organizer)
• The Sixth Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields. Morelia, Mexico
• Second Latin American Summer School on High Energy Physics.  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (co-organizer)
• Third Latin American Summer School on High Energy Physics.  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (co-organizer)
• The Ninth Mexican School on Particles and Fields, Puebla,, Mexico
• The Tenth Mexican School on Particles and Fields, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
• The Sixth Latin-American Symposium on High Energy Physics/ Twelfth Mexican School of Particles and Fields. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

He was vice-chair and chair of the International Physics Group (IPG) of the A.P.S., the forerunner of the current Forum on International Physics.  He was a member of the APS Committee on International Scientific Affairs (CISA) and he was vice-chair and chair of Selection Committee for the A.P.S. Wheatley Award for promoting cooperation in International Physics.

Candidate's Statement

As a member of international collaborations while living in Europe, the U.S. and Mexico, I became convinced that international cooperation could actively and quite efficiently help physicists from both developed and developing countries make significant contributors to their respective communities.  International collaboration not only lowers cultural barriers, it also promotes the development of science and technology that in turn can play a role in raising the standard of living in developing countries.  Having chaired the organization of many international conferences, workshops and schools I have seen how even short time-scale cooperation between different cultures can lead to a far superior result.   In my current role as co-spokesperson of an international collaboration with participation from Latin America, Europe and the United States, I have experienced how more long-term collaboration leads to the direct transfer of knowledge and techniques, in all directions, that can mutually benefit all participants.  I intend to continue promoting and expediting such international collaborations, both short- and long-term, in scientific and technological research.

        I was chair of the International Physics Group (IPG) as it transformed into this Forum on International Physics. I tried to ensure that the FIP would continue the role of an activity-driven organization that the IPG had pursued. Although the FIP can be proud of its many accomplishments since its creation, it now faces additional challenges. While international collaboration is becoming even more essential in confronting the requirements of planned future projects, the current post-9/11/01 political environment has made such international exchange increasingly difficult.  The FIP must continue to actively confront these issues and enable, through existing and new programs, scientists from developing and developed countries to work together to overcome political tensions and build mutual understanding