LOCAL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory hires executive search firm to find its next director

The Oak Ridger

UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, has retained executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to help in the search for a new lab director.

ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia retired at the end of 2022 after a 35-year career at ORNL, including five years as director.

Jeff Smith has been named interim director. He was the lab's chief operating officer when UT-Battelle began managing ORNL in 2000. He retired from the position in April 2021, according to a release.

“We are committed to identifying a leader who will continue ORNL's 80-year legacy of enabling world-leading experts to leverage uniquely powerful tools for breakthroughs that serve national priorities in fundamental science, energy technology, and national security,” Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee system and co-chairman of the UT-Battelle Board of Governors, said in the release.

UT-Battelle plans to hire a new director as soon as possible but no timeline has been set, according to ORNL Communications Director David Keim. He would not share how much UT-Battelle will pay the search firm.

Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, Adjunct General for the Tennessee National Guard, chats with ORNL director Thomas Zacharia before an awards presentation. Oak Ridge National Laboratory was presented with the 2022 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award by the Tennessee Employer Support for Guard and Reserve at the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022.

Russell Reynolds is described in the release as "a nationally known firm with experience in national laboratory, academic and industry sector searches for executive leadership positions."

The board of UT-Battelle appointed a search committee last year to review candidates for the director position, according to the ORNL website. Russell Reynolds was hired, the website stated, "to conclude the search for a leader."

Mark Peters, Battelle's executive vice president for national laboratory management & operations and a UT-Battelle board member, is chair. The others are, according to the ORNL website:

  • Juan Alvarez, Idaho National Laboratory deputy laboratory director for management and operations and UT-Battelle board member
  • Chris Beatty, ORNL chief operating officer, Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate
  • Miaofang Chi, researcher in ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Science
  • Alan Icenhour, ORNL deputy for operations
  • Cynthia Jenks, ORNL associate laboratory director, Physical Sciences Directorate
  • Kim Jeskie, ORNL director for Integrated Operations Support, Facilities and Operations Directorate
  • Paul Kearns, Argonne National Laboratory's lab director
  • Martin Keller, National Renewable Energy Laboratory director
  • Padma Raghavan, Vanderbilt University vice provost for research and professor of computer science and computer engineering
  • Gina Tourassi, ORNL National Center for Computational Sciences director
  • Ann Weaver, ORNL Neutron Sciences Directorate chief operating officer
  • Stan Wullschleger, ORNL associate lab director, Biological and Environmental Systems Sciences Directorate
  • Eva Zarkadoula, ORNL research and development staff, Microstructural Evolution Modeling, Physical Sciences Directorate, and Women's Alliance Council president

UT-Battelle officials said they welcome input on the lab director search. Information on the director search, the qualifications sought, and a link to apply for the position can be found at https://www.ornl.gov/lab-director-search.