Acknowledging exceptional performance and expertise LLNL Annual Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
The challenges of LLNL’s mission require a workforce of exceptionally talented and dedicated employees. The many awards and honors received by Laboratory personnel are testament to their expertise and the impact of their work.
DOE Secretarial Honor Award
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz awarded LLNL climate scientist David Bader (and two co-winners) a DOE Secretarial Honor Award for his leadership of the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) project. The Secretarial Honor Awards are the department’s highest form of nonmonetary employee recognition.
NNSA Excellence Medal
LLNL scientist Leon Berzins received the NNSA Excellence Medal from Anne Harrington, the NNSA deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, for his management of the successful Source Physics Experiment-4 Prime campaign (see , Global Security ).
NNSA STI Award
Engineer Mark Hart received the 2015 NNSA Surety Transformation Initiative (STI) Award. He will receive $2 million in funding over three years to develop his proposal for Intrinsic Use Control, a concept for protecting a nuclear weapon and its components from unauthorized use with an uncrackable code.
Office of Science Early Career Award
Climate scientist Yunyan Zhang earned a prestigious Early Career Research Program award from DOE’s Office of Science. She will receive $500,000 for five years for research to improve the understanding of how soil moisture and surface diversity affect cloud formation and precipitation.
APS Fellows
The American Physical Society (APS) named 10 Lawrence Livermore researchers as fellows: (top row, from left) Michael Armstrong, Chris Barty, Ray Beach, Debbie Callahan, Tony Gonis, and Frederic Hartmann; (bottom row, from left) Yinmin “Morris” Wang, James Tobin, Robert Rudd, and Nobuhiko Izumi.
Defense Programs Awards of Excellence
Eleven teams of Laboratory scientists and engineers received an NNSA Defense Programs Award of Excellence in recognition of work performed in 2014 in support of Defense Programs missions. The teams were presented with their awards by NNSA (Acting) Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Brigadier General Stephen L. Davis.
Newton International Fellowship
Lawrence Scholar Matthew Levy was awarded the prestigious Newton International Fellowship by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom (UK). The program makes 40 awards available per year to postdoctoral researchers to work at UK research institutions for a period of two years. Levy is the first American physicist to become a Newton Fellow.
Outstanding Journal Referees
APS cited experimental physicist Félicie Albert as an Outstanding Referee for 2015. Climate scientist Ken Sperber was awarded the 2014 Editor’s Citation for Refereeing for the . Both were honored for their exceptional assistance in assessing manuscripts for publication.
Senior Fellows
LLNL researchers Tiziana Bond and Jean-Michel Di Nicola were named senior members of the Optical Society for more than 10 years of significant experience and professional accomplishments. Livermore scientists Nerine Cherepy and Edgar Leon were selected to be senior members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a prestigious status held by only seven percent of the 431,000 members. Cherepy and LLNL researcher Michael Pivovaroff are among the 171 new senior members of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
American Chemical Society Medal
Laboratory geochemist Annie Kersting was selected to receive the 2016 American Chemical Society’s Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal. The medal recognizes outstanding scientific achievement, leadership, and service to chemistry by women chemists who are U.S. citizens. She is widely recognized for her work in actinide environmental chemistry.
IUPAP President
Physicist Kennedy Reed has been elected president-designate of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). IUPAP assists in the worldwide development of physics, fosters international cooperation in physics, and helps in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity.
TMS President
Materials scientist Patrice Turchi is serving as the 2015 president of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). He has been an active member of TMS for more than 25 years and was the society’s vice president in 2014.
Millennial Leader Award
Biomedical engineer Monica Moya was recognized with a Millennial Leader Award at the EmpowHer Institute’s Rising Stars Awards event. The award acknowledges women under 40 who are accomplished professionals working for the advancement of girls and women in the arts, business, public service, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.
HR Rising Star
Renée Breyer, deputy associate director for Strategic Human Resources Management at LLNL, was named an HR Rising Star for 2015 by Human Resources Executive Magazine. She was selected as one of five rising stars for 2015 out of more than 100 candidates.
Geothermal Energy Award
Engineers Thomas Edmunds and Pedro Sotorrio received a special recognition award from the Geothermal Energy Association for their work advancing the industry’s understanding of geothermal energy as both a baseload and a flexible resource in future electrical grids.
FPA Awards
The Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors selected LLNL nuclear engineer Susana Reyes as the recipient of its 2015 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award. Reyes was cited for her leadership in magnetic and inertial fusion projects in many areas, including safety and licensing, tritium systems, and power plant designs. The FPA also presented a Special Award to fusion scientist Wayne Meier for his numerous contributions to fusion power development.
Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame
Physicist Natalia Zaitseva was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame. One of 12 inductees, she developed a way to rapidly grow the large crystals used in the National Ignition Facility and more recently led a team that developed plastic scintillator materials for neutron detectors.
The Dr. Ian Hutcheon Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office established the Dr. Ian Hutcheon Postdoctoral Fellowship award to support research in nuclear forensics. The fellowship honors the late Hutcheon, who significantly advanced America’s nuclear forensics capability during his 22-year tenure at the Laboratory.
