July 1, 2004 — Physicist Jim Beene and materials scientist Steve Zinkle have been named UT-Battelle corporate fellows in recognition of their sustained and outstanding research contributions at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Corporate fellows are selected for their significant work over many years and are acknowledged by their peers throughout the United States and other nations. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE.
Beene has been director of the laboratory's Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) since 1995. He was selected for his pioneering and seminal work in nuclear structure physics and for directing HRIBF to become a forefront facility for nuclear science. He is credited with developing an isotope-separator-on-line facility, which enhanced its capabilities as a national user center for scientists from outside institutions to conduct physics and nuclear-related research.
Beene has been with ORNL's Physics Division since 1976. Among his concentrations of work is the study of the excitation and decay of nuclei in neutron-rich radioactive species.
He earned a bachelor's degree (magna cum laude) from the University of the South and was awarded a master's in physics and doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of Oxford.
Beene and his wife, Elaine, reside in Oak Ridge. They have three children.
Zinkle, leader of the nuclear materials science and technology group in ORNL's Metals and Ceramics Division, is considered an international authority in the study of radiation effects on materials. He has written a series of critical review articles summarizing fundamental radiation effects aspects in a broad range of metals and ceramics.
He has co-authored more than 140 peer-reviewed journal papers and 42 papers in books from conference proceedings. His expertise in electron microscopy and knowledge of radiation effects have enabled him to develop collaborations with scientists outside ORNL, including work with institutions in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.
Zinkle joined ORNL as a Wigner fellow in 1985. He received bachelor's and master's degrees and a doctorate in nuclear engineering, as well as a master's degree in materials science, from the University of Wisconsin.
He is married with two children and resides in Knoxville.