Thomas Zacharia has been selected as the next director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective July 1.
Zacharia “built Oak Ridge National Laboratory into a global supercomputing center,” according to a press release.
UT-Battelle, the partnership that operates ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, selected Zacharia for this position.
“Thomas has a compelling vision for the future of ORNL that is directly aligned with the U.S. Department of Energy’s strategic priorities,” said Joe DiPietro, chair of the UT-Battelle Board of governors and president of the University of Tennessee. “He has led many of the innovative research and development initiatives that ORNL has successfully pursued over the past decade. His vision of ORNL playing a prominent role in advancing U.S. national and energy security reflects his leadership strengths.”
UT-Battelle became ORNL’s management and operating contractor in April 2000, and Zacharia was director of the Computer Science and Mathematics Division. He was named ORNL’s deputy for science and technology in 2009, responsible for the lab’s entire research and development portfolio. He took a leave in 2012 to serve as executive vice president of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and returned to ORNL in 2015.
Zacharia joined ORNL in 1987 as a postdoctoral researcher. He has a PhD in engineering science from Clarkson University in New York, a master’s degree in materials science from the University of Mississippi and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Karnataka, India.
Zacharia replaces Thom Mason, who announced he would be leaving to become senior vice president for laboratory operations at Battelle after 10 years leading ORNL.
Work ORNL is doing in hydropower includes partnering with Telluride Energy of Colorado to design a geospatial hydropower resource assessment method focusing on small hydropower opportunities at non-powered dams near water treatment plants.
