The laboratory is dedicated to Professor James R. Macdonald (1936-1979), who made significant contributions in atomic physics through experimental electron and atomic collision studies and in the development of equipment and techniques. His initial research provided impetus for a full-scale accelerator-based atomic physics program at Kansas State University.
The initial cost of the tandem Van de Graaff accelerator facility in 1967 was $2.5 million. Of this amount, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (forerunner to the U.S. Department of Energy) provided $1.5 million with the remaining funds coming from the State of Kansas. The building addition to house the LINAC and CRYEBIS was provided by the State of Kansas at a cost of $1.1 million in 1986. The $5.1 million cost of constructing the LINAC and CRYEBIS was supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy over a three-year period beginning in 1985. Construction costs of the ECR source and Ion-Ion facility were shared—DOE provided $185,000 and the State of Kansas provided $100,000 over a two-year period beginning in 1993. The operation of the lab is funded by a continuing grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for approximately $2 million per year.
Since the first experiment was conducted in 1969, scientists from labs throughout the world have come to the Macdonald Laboratory to collaborate with researchers here. Because of this long history of outside users, the Macdonald Laboratory was officially designated a U.S. Department of Energy User Facility in 1997.
