The award is conferred upon Muskingum College alumni whose accomplishments reflect significant service to mankind. It is the college's highest honor.
A vice president of Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp., Reichle administers life-sciences research and development programs performed in ORNL's Biology, Chemical Technology, Energy, Environmental Sciences and Health Sciences Research divisions, along with ORNL's Centers for Global Environmental Studies, Biotechnology and Risk Management.
Reichle came to ORNL in 1964 as an Atomic Energy Commission Post-Doctoral Fellow. He was associate director and later director of the Environmental Sciences Division before being appointed in 1990 to his current position.
A consulting environmental editor for Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., Reichle is an editorial board member of two science journals and has coauthored several books and more than 100 scientific articles and research papers. He is a member of the graduate faculty at the University of Tennessee, serving as an adjunct professor in ecology and zoology, and a founding board member of the Joint Institute for Energy and the Environment.
Reichle is an active Rotarian, serving as past president of the Oak Ridge Rotary Club. He is a member of the board of directors of the Oak Ridge Boys Club, where he was president and subsequent chairman of the Tennessee Area Council of Boys and Girls Clubs.
He is a member of the Roane County Commission Environmental Review Board and vice chairman of the Tennessee Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. He has held posts on boards and panels of DOE, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency. Reichle serves on the Board of Visitors for Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Research Advisory Council of the Gas Research Institute. Reichle is a Fellow and member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Reichle earned a bachelor's of science degree in biology and chemistry from Muskingum and a master's of science and doctorate in biological science from Northwestern University.
He and his wife, Donna, live in Kingston. They have three adult children.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.