The Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series

Eugene P. Wigner

ORNL’s Eugene P. Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series in Science, Technology, and Policy promotes dialogue among Oak Ridge researchers and renowned leaders in science, industry, and government. The invited lecturers bring distinct perspectives to the lab’s community of scientists and engineers, whose scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs target some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Albert Fert, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics, opened the Wigner Lectures on November 4, 2013, 70 years to the day after ORNL’s Graphite Reactor reached criticality. The milestone, achieved as part of the World War II Manhattan Project, helped to usher in the Nuclear Age. Today, to fulfill its missions in clean energy, global security and scientific discovery, ORNL provides some of the world’s foremost facilities and expertise in an array of fields including material science, high-performance computing, biological science, neutron science, and nuclear science and engineering.

The Wigner Lectures are named in recognition of ORNL’s first research director, Eugene Wigner, recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics. Wigner was both a towering figure in theoretical physics and a key contributor to the development of nuclear reactors. He established an enduring vision for the laboratory and laid the foundations for programs that continue to this day.

Hosted by ORNL's Corporate Fellows, the Distinguished Lectures are available for viewing through the links below or on the laboratory's YouTube site.

Upcoming lecturers
	To be announced
Past lecturers
	Marcia McNutt – July 1, 2024 President, National Academy of Sciences Video: State of Science in America
	Frank Wilczek – April 1, 2024 Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics Video: Symmetries of Time
	Arthur McDonald – December 4, 2023 Gray Chair, Emeritus, at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada 2015 Nobel Laureate in Physics Video: Understanding Our Universe from Measurements Deep Underground
	Samuel Ting - June 17, 2021 Research Scientist, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1976 Nobel Laureate in Physics Video: The latest results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment on the International Space Station
	John Martinis - February 18, 2020 Research Scientist, Google; Wooster Chair in Experimental Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Lecture: Quantum supremacy: checking a quantum computer with a classical supercomputer
	K. Barry Sharpless - May 16, 2019 W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute Video: New Developments in Click Chemistry
	Sir Richard Roberts – February 6, 2019 Chief Scientific Officer, New England Biolabs Lecture: Precision Agriculture and Genetically Modified Organisms
	Michael V. Berry – April 5, 2018 Melville Wills Professor of Physics Emeritus, University of Bristol Video: Making Light of Mathematics
	Martin Karplus – November 7, 2017 Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, Harvard University 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Lecture: What Does the Future Hold?
	William D. Phillips – August 9, 2017 Group Leader, Laser Cooling and Trapping, Quantum Measurement Division, Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland Co-Director, Physics Frontier Center, Joint Quantum Institute 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics Lecture: At the Crossroads of Atomic and Solid-State Physics: Ultracold Atoms as a New Condensed Matter System
	Thomas L. Friedman – May 10, 2017 Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times Video: Thank You for Being Late: A Discussion of the Social, Political, Ethical, and Economic Implications of the Age of Accelerations
	Yuri TS. Oganessian – January 27, 2017 Scientific Director, Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Video: Discovering Superheavy Elements
	Charles O. Holliday, Jr. - October 17, 2016 Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc Video: Sustainable Energy Transitions
	Brad Filippone - September 12, 2016 Francis L. Moseley Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology Video: Discovery Opportunities at Very Low and Very High Energies
	Alton Romig, Jr. - June 23, 2016 Executive Officer, National Academy of Engineering Video: The National Academies and Nuclear Nonproliferation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
	Andrew Briggs - March 8, 2016 Professor of Nanomaterials, University of Oxford Video: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Curiosity
	Roald Hoffmann - February 9, 2016 Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus, Cornell University 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Video: The Chemical Imagination at Work in Very Tight Places Video: Roald Hoffmann on the study of matter under high pressure Video: Roald Hoffmann on the importance of national laboratories Video: Roald Hoffmann on the connection between his work in science & in the arts Video: Roald Hoffmann on his experience as a Holocaust survivor & how it affected his career
	Frances Arnold - November 2, 2015 Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry Director, Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center Principal Investigator, The Frances H. Arnold Research Group, California Institute of Technology Video: Innovation by Evolution: The Expanding Enzyme Universe Video: Frances Arnold on the use of directed evolution of proteins to advance health care Video: Frances Arnold on the use of directed microbe evolution to promote clean energy technology Video: Frances Arnold on why national laboratories are critical to scientific research Video: Frances Arnold on directing protein evolution
	C. N. R. Rao - September 21, 2015 National Research Professor Linus Pauling Research Professor Honorary President, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research Video: Inorganic Graphene Analogues
	Siegfried Hecker - April 30, 2015 Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Research Professor of Management Science and Engineering Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Video: Doomed to Cooperate: How American and Russian Nuclear Scientists Joined Forces to Mitigate Some of the Greatest Post-Cold War Dangers
	Harold Kroto - March 26, 2015 Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee Professor Emeritus, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Video: Carbon in Nano and Outer Space
	Ada Yonath - January 15, 2015 The Martin S. and Helen Kimmel Professor of Structural Biology Director, The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly, Weizmann Institute of Science 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Lecture: Combating Species-Specific Antibiotics Resistance
	Susan Solomon – December 10, 2014 Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate Science Founding Director, Environmental Solutions Initiative, MIT Video: Ozone Depletion at the Ends of the Earth: A Science and Policy Success Story Antarctic about-face: Wigner Distinguished Lecturer discusses keys to reversing ozone depletion
	Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - July 28, 2014 Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Video: How Antibiotics Block the Ribosome, the Cell’s Protein Factory Nobel Laureate speaks on antibiotics and drug resistance
	Craig Barrett - April 8, 2014 Former Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation Video: Economic Competitiveness in the 21st Century Keys to competitiveness
	John Holdren - March 13, 2014 Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Co-Chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Video: Science and Technology Policy in the Obama Administration Holdren describes S&T's 'rightful place' in administration
	Steven Chu - February 12, 2014 William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics, Stanford University Former US Secretary of Energy 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics Video: The Energy and Climate Challenge: Necessity as the Mother of Invention Former Energy Secretary warns of environmental effects of atmospheric carbon
	Arun Majumdar - January 27, 2014 Vice President of Energy, Google Former Director, U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Video: Energy and the Industrial Revolution: Past, Present, Future Wigner distinguished lecturer Majumdar says scale-up factor key to R&D success
	Albert Fert - November 4, 2013 Scientific Director, Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales 2007 Nobel Laureate in Physics Video: Novel Directions for Spintronics Fert kicks off Wigner Lectures to full house Nobel Laureate launches Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series