Kathleen Amm
Director
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Amm received her B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Toronto and Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from Florida State University, where her advisors were the National MagLab’s founding director, Jack Crow, and Justin Schwartz, chancellor at the University of Colorado Boulder, during the early days of the lab.
She spent nearly 20 years at GE Global Research, first as a physicist in the electromagnetic and superconductivity lab, followed by various leadership positions across the organization.
Amm then served as director of the Magnet Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) leading a team of scientists, engineers and technicians developing the future of superconducting magnet technology.
In May 2024, Amm joined the MagLab as director, bringing her more than 25 years of experience in superconductivity and magnet design to the world’s largest and highest-powered magnet laboratory. In this role, she oversees the National MagLab’s headquarters location at Florida State University, as well as the MagLab facilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Florida.
Amm is a member of several professional societies and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She holds 22 patents and has co-authored more than 75 peer reviewed publications. In 2014, GE Global Research recognized her contributions to breakthrough magnet technologies, and she is also Design for Six Sigma Black Belt and MATRIZ certified.