Zinkle is a group leader in the nuclear materials science and technology group and fusion materials program manager in ORNL's Metals and Ceramics Division.
The ORNL researcher was recognized "for outstanding contributions to our understanding of the effects of radiation on the properties of materials, and the development of new, advanced materials for service in the challenging environment of fusion reactors" in the citation.
He has been at ORNL since 1985. Zinkle was previously a student researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a Wigner Fellow at ORNL. Zinkle has also been a visiting scientist at the Riso National Laboratory in Denmark, Forschungszentum Julich in Germany and the Prometey Central Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Zinkle also is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and is a member of the Materials Research Society and the American Nuclear Society. He earned four technical achievement awards at ORNL during an 11-year period and also received the Fusion Power Associates Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award.
He earned a bachelor's and master's degree - along with a doctorate - in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin, where he also earned a master's in materials science.
Zinkle and his wife, Teresa, have two sons - Austin and Allen - and reside in West Knoxville.
ORNL is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.