Kevin Lannon
Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, College of Science
Professor Kevin Lannon studies the fundamental building blocks of the universe through the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Working with an international collaboration of scientists, Lannon searches for undiscovered particles and forces that shape the cosmos, including dark matter and dark energy.
The particles scientists currently know about account for only about 5 percent of the universe. Through one of the most sophisticated scientific instruments ever created, Lannon and thousands of scientists from around the world are working together to understand the other 95 percent, continuing a quest to understand the nature of the universe that stretches back to the ancient Greeks.
“I've always been attracted by the idea of breaking down things that seem complicated or confusing, and explaining them in terms of a small number of relatively simple pieces,” Lannon said. “I would really like to know whether we can do that for the universe as a whole: explain all of the wondrous complexity we see in the world around us in terms of a small set of fundamental building blocks.”
For Lannon, that pursuit of knowledge is closely connected to Notre Dame’s Catholic mission and to sharing the wonder of scientific discovery with students.
“Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, wrote that ‘Zeal is the great desire to make God known, loved, and served,’” Lannon said. “It is a profound privilege to contribute to this mission at Notre Dame, not only by plumbing the depths of the universe’s mysteries, but also by sharing the resulting awe and wonder with the students of Notre Dame.”
