CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I SEPTEMBER 4, 2023
WHY THE WHOLE PHYSICS WORLD WILL SOON BE
WATCHING FERMILAB
The Batavia-based science center is getting set to launch a global, $4 billion effort to study one of the biggest questions physicists have ever attempted to answer I By John Pletz
F
ermilab is building a new accelerator that eventually will be used to shoot a beam of subatomic particles underground from the research lab in the western suburbs to a former gold mine in South Dakota in an effort to answer one of the biggest questions in physics: How did we get here? It starts with the Big Bang — specifically, the first millionth of a second. “Standard physics says there should have been equal parts of matter and antimatter, which should have canceled each other out,” says Chris Mossey of Fermilab, in Batavia. “That didn’t happen: There was more matter than antimatter, so we exist. A fundamental question in physics is, why is that?” See FERMILAB on Page 30
Excavation continues in three large caverns at the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility in South Dakota for Fermilab’s Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. I RYAN POSTEL, FERMILAB
Who made the right choice on sports, Northwestern or U of C? NOTABLE WOMEN IN STEM Meet 100 professionals dedicated to introducing girls — particularly girls of color — to STEM careers. I PAGE 13
football hazing scandal that It’s more than an academic question as a football the has tarnished Northwestern’s hazing scandal unfolds at the Evanston campus reputation, distracted its leaders By Judith Crown
It was a football powerhouse, winning seven Big Ten championships in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its running back was awarded the first Heisman Trophy in 1935. But University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins famously abolished varsity football after the 1939 season and withdrew from the Big Ten in 1946, where it had
been a charter member. The reason: Big-time college football and the university’s commitment to academics weren’t compatible. The Chicago area’s other elite university — Northwestern — went the other direction, maintaining Division 1 teams in a range of sports, despite the difficulty of Big Ten competition. Which school made the right choice? The question has taken on greater salience in the wake of
and exposed the university to legal liability. It will become even more pressing as the costs of maintaining Division 1 athletics continue to rise. There’s no question that the University of Chicago and Northwestern enjoy global prominence. Both are in the top 10 in the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the best national universities. Both have top-tier
VOL. 46, NO. 35 l COPYRIGHT 2023 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
GREG HINZ This city was built by immigrants, and they could help rebuild it — if the pols get out of the way. PAGE 2
FINANCE For the first time in many years, Discover Financial Services is a potential acquisition target. PAGE 3
See SPORTS on Page 31