The 2025 Robert Hofstadter Memorial Lecture: Professor Steven Cowley- "Fusion Energy: Why, How and When"

Please mark your calendars for the 2025 Hofstadter Memorial Lecture on Monday, May 19th at 7:30pm! This year's speaker is Professor Steven Cowley from Princeton University. Professor Cowley is also Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.  Professor Cowley is a leading plasma theorist who also once served as chief executive officer of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Fusion Energy: Why, How and When

Abstract: In a remarkable public lecture in 1920, Arthur Eddington speculated that fusion might become the ultimate long-term energy source. More than a century later, the world is approaching a milestone: generating electricity from fusion for the first time. The National Academies have recommended that “the Department of Energy and the private sector should produce net electricity in a fusion plant in the United States in the 2035–2040 timeframe.” This is an ambitious goal—but recent breakthroughs in both magnetic and inertial fusion, combined with a surge of private-sector investment, suggest that success may be within reach. This presentation outlines the progress achieved so far and the challenges that lie ahead.

Following the Hofstadter Lecture, Professor Cowley will also speak at the Tuesday, May 20th Physics/AP Colloquium at 3:30pm

As always, both lectures are free and open to the public. 

The Robert Hofstadter Memorial Lecture Series were established in 1993 by the Stanford Physics Department. Each year, an eminent speaker is invited to give an evening public lecture followed by an afternoon colloquium.