Micky Dolenz of The Monkees fame receives a lapel pin from Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. (CREDIT: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab)

It wasn’t a daydream, and you can believe it. International superstar Micky Dolenz, best known as a member of The Monkees, visited Fermilab on Friday, Feb. 10, to the delight of all who got the chance to meet him.

Dolenz was equally delighted and showed himself to be an extremely knowledgeable enthusiast of particle physics.

“I’ve been a fan of particle physics for my whole life. My first email address back in the early ’90s was Higgs137,” he said, referencing both the Higgs boson and the number of the fine structure constant, a number former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman observed as one of the most recurring in physics.

During his tour of the laboratory, Dolenz met with senior management and visited the Main Control Room, both Remote Operations Centers, the Muon g-2 experiment and the MINOS underground cavern. He was especially pleased to tour the DZero detector and the Tevatron — Dolenz had last visited the lab in 1970 and saw portions of the Main Ring being built.

After his tour, Dolenz went to The Frontier Pub, where he spent the evening chatting with employees and users about science.

Dolenz poses for a photo with his fans. From left: Meredith Amend, Stephany Unruh, Hema Ramamoorthi, Nigel Lockyer, Micky Dolenz, Joe Lykken, Valerie Higgins, Cheryl Keaty, Kay van Vreede. Photo: Reidar Hahn (CREDIT: Fermilab)

• Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Fermilab’s website and was reposted on Kane County Connects courtesy of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Fermilab is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Click here to find out more about 50th anniversary events.

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