Visa issue expert Susan Brown helps foreign visitors

Before physicists, technicians, computer experts and other visitors from abroad can help probe the mysteries of matter and energy at Fermilab, they must first probe the mysteries of H-1B visas, I-94 forms and immigration paperwork processing.

Helping them decipher the paperwork is International Services administrator Susan Brown, who began work on Aug. 26.

From her office on the first floor of Wilson Hall, Brown helps foreign nationals plan visits ranging from a few days to a few years. The full process for some applicants can take months, during which she gets to know more about the client than just his or her application.

"You do develop a familiarity with each other," Brown said. "I take it personally, they’re depending on me to get them into the country."

Her primary focus is on completing paperwork for immigrants planning a temporary stay in the United States. She has about nine years of experience in immigration work and most recently worked at a Chicago law firm that helped business clients complete paperwork for foreign nationals.

So far she’s enjoyed her work at Fermilab, which she said has a more relaxed work environment than Chicago. One challenge unique to her job has been writing job descriptions in applications, which require her to research and understand the complexities of a scientific position.

International Services supervisor Amanda Peterson said she was looking to hire an experienced paralegal who could begin processing paperwork immediately, a qualification Brown possessed. But it was the moment in an interview when Brown mentioned her fondness for checklists – a staple in the International Services office – that Peterson knew she would make the hire.

“I knew if anyone loved checklists as much as I love checklists that she’d be a good fit,” Peterson said.

Brown lives in Naperville with her husband and two sons, ages 15 and 12. She grew up in Tulsa, Okla., and earned her undergraduate degree from East Central University in Oklahoma.

-- Chris Knight

College of William and Mary

Back row: Jeff Nelson, Josh Devan, Mike Kordosky, Eddie Charlton, Pete de Castro, Aaron Krajeski and Chris Becke. Front row: Wendy Nelson, Tricia Vahle, Alena Gavrilenko, Stephen Kane, Bruce Pollock, Dave Edmondson, Will Henninger and Sabina Samipour.

NAME:
College of William and Mary

HOME TOWN:
Williamsburg, Virginia

MASCOT:
William and Mary is known as "the Tribe." In 2006, NCAA deemed the nickname appropriate but deemed the feathers on our former athletic logo inappropriate. In response to the ruling, we are now in search of a mascot.

SCHOOL COLORS:
Green, gold and silver

PARTICLE PHYSICS COLLABORATIONS:
MINOS, NOvA, MINERvA and Mu2e

EXPERIMENTS AT FERMILAB:
MINOS, NOvA, MINERvA and Mu2e

SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS AT FERMILAB:
Three faculty, three emeritus, four graduate students, eight current undergraduates and 18 total undergraduates during the last five years, and two high school teachers

COLLABORATING AT FERMILAB SINCE:
2004

MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO FERMILAB EXPERIMENTS:
MINOS: installation; magnetics; muon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance analyses; electron neutrino appearance analysis; near detector neutrino cross section measurements; beam systematics; MC generation; test beam operation and analysis. NOvA: calibration working group. MINERvA: construction; installation; tracking prototype commissioning.

PARTICLE PHYSICS RESEARCH FOCUS:
Neutrinos

WHAT SETS PARTICLE PHYSICS AT COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY UNIVERSITY APART?
William and Mary high energy physics rapidly expanded over the last five years and has attracted a number of new graduate students. We have an active mix of hardware, analysis, and R&D experience and strong connections with our colleagues at nearby JLab. In addition to getting Ph.D. students involved, we require every William and Mary physics major to complete a research project (18 HEP undergrads in the last five years).

Our physics building is named after Thomas Jefferson's science professor (Small) and is being expanded to double the research space.

FUNDING AGENCY:
National Science Foundation

FAVORITE NATIONAL LABORATORY:
Fermilab

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Interview: Murray Gell-Mann

From Science News, Sept. 19, 2009

Shortly before his 80th birthday, on September 15, the physics Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann spoke with Science News Editor in Chief Tom Siegfried about his views on the current situation in particle physics and the interests he continues to pursue in other realms of science. Gell-Mann is most well known for introducing the concept of quarks, the building blocks of protons, neutrons and other particles that interact under the influence of the strong nuclear force. After many years as a professor of physics at Caltech, Gell-Mann moved in the mid-1980s to New Mexico as one of the founding members of the Santa Fe Institute, where he continues his research today.

You say in your book [The Quark and the Jaguar, 1994] that there is no evidence for any substructure of quarks. Is that still the case?

There's no evidence for any substructure. There might be. It's possible, but there's no evidence for it.

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