Rep. Bill Foster is the only PhD physicist in Congress. Before he was elected to Congress in 2008, he worked as a high-energy physicist and particle accelerator designer at the Fermi National Accelerator.
2020 redistricting changed the makeup of this district making it more conservative, but Congressman Foster still won reelection in 2022 by 56-44%.
He serves on the House Committee on Financial Services.
Foster has frequently engaged in oversight of nuclear policy issues, where his physicist background gives him a unique perspective to evaluate technical aspects of non-proliferation, arms control and verification issues. He has been an outspoken leader in the effort to secure vulnerable nuclear material around the globe, support the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and to fund research into low enriched uranium for U.S. naval reactors.
