ORNL Director Thom Mason announced Feb. 24 he will step down effective July 1 — exactly 10 years after becoming director of the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory.
Mason is taking on a new role as senior vice president for laboratory operations at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle, in partnership with the University of Tennessee, has managed and operated ORNL for DOE since April 2000.
“Thom has been an exemplary scientific leader and we’re fortunate that he will continue to be engaged with Oak Ridge National Laboratory as he uses his experience and expertise to benefit DOE, Battelle and other labs where Battelle has a management role,” said Joe DiPietro, UT president and chairman of the UT-Battelle Board of Governors.
Battelle has a substantial management role at six DOE labs and one lab for the Department of Homeland Security.
Mason is an experimental condensed matter physicist by training and came to ORNL in 1998 to work on the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). He soon assumed responsibility for completion of the $1.4 billion project.
SNS and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, solidified ORNL’s role as the leading source of neutrons for scientific research in the U.S. and recently welcomed their 20,000th scientific user.
Mason will work with Ron Townsend, executive vice president of global laboratory operations, and participate in governance at each Battelle-managed lab, engaging sponsors and leading strategic planning for lab operations integrating a strategic plan. –Bill Cabage
