Kofi Annan visits CERN

On Tuesday 13 September, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate Kofi Annan paid a visit to CERN.

 

Arriving in the early afternoon, Kofi Annan and his family were greeted by Director-General Rolf Heuer on the steps of Building 500. After a quick introduction to the Laboratory, they were whisked off to SM18 for a tour of the LHC’s superconducting magnet test hall, guided by Technology Department Head Frédérick Bordry.

After a light lunch in Restaurant 2, Kofi Annan added his signature to CERN’s Guest Book. He is the second UN Secretary-General to add their name to CERN’s roster; his successor Ban Ki-Moon’s visited CERN in 2008.  Kofi Annan was then guided by spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti on a tour of ATLAS’s Visitor Centre. This was an opportunity for some of the younger members of the ATLAS collaboration to meet the former Secretary-General and to answer his questions about the experiment. Kofi Annan and his family ended their visit at the Universe of Particles exhibition in the Globe.

by Katarina Anthony