Professor John Womersley is Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which is the United Kingdom's funding agency for particle physics, nuclear physics and astronomy, for large scale science facilities and national laboratories

A graduate of Cambridge and Oxford (D. Phil. Experimental Particle Physics), he has played a leading role in particle physics both in Europe and the United States. John worked at the Florida State University and Fermilab, where he led one of the two large collider experiments, before becoming a scientific advisor to the Department of Energy in the US. He returned to the UK in 2005 to become Director of the Particle Physics Department at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at a time when it was building and delivering vital components to CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

In 2007, Prof. Womersley began managing STFC's Science Programmes Office and he was appointed Chief Executive in 2011. In his role as Chief Executive he represents STFC on the RCUK Executive Group where he is the Chief Executive Champion for RCUK Public Engagement with Research

Prof. Womersley also represents the UK in a number of international forums including the Council of the European Southern Observatory and of CERN.  He chairs the Board of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project, and chaired the European Commission's Expert Group on Cost Control and Management in Large Research Infrastructures.  In autumn 2013, he was elected chair of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)

Prof. Womersley is a visiting professor at the University of Durham, University College London, and the University of Oxford.