Acknowledging exceptional performance and expertise
Recognition by the scientific community and other stakeholders affirms the high quality of Livermore’s work and innovative spirit. The awards on these pages showcase the efforts of the Laboratory’s talented staff.
DOE and NNSA Awards
Early in 2021, retiring LLNL Director William Goldstein received honors in recognition of his dedication and service to DOE, NNSA, and the nation. Acting Secretary of Energy David Huizenga conferred the Secretary’s Exceptional Service Award to Goldstein, and Acting NNSA Administrator Charles Verdon presented him with the Administrator’s Distinguished Service Gold Award.
Former deputy director of the Laboratory’s Center for Global Security Research Mona Dreicer received the NNSA Administrator’s Distinguished Service Gold Award for her many accomplishments during a long, distinguished career in arms control and nuclear nonproliferation.
LLNL staff were presented with 10 DOE Secretary’s Achievement awards, which are given to teams that have made outstanding accomplishments. The honored teams (some multilaboratory) engaged in COVID-19 response, high-performance computing, nuclear
nonproliferation and emergency response, workforce recruiting and security,
and carbon neutrality projects.
Physicist Andrea Schmidt and research scientist Xue Zheng are among 83 scientists nationwide who were recipients of the DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program award. Under the program, Laboratory scientists typically receive $500,000 in research funding per year for five years.
LLNL engineer Bill Pitz earned a Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office for his significant contributions to the field of chemical kinetics applied to fuel combustion in engines. Pitz was also selected as a Society of Automotive Engineers fellow in 2021.
Federal Service Awards
LLNL’s Nils Carlson received an exceptional service award from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). He was recognized for his work as the National Intelligence Manager for Space and Technical Intelligence while on assignment with ODNI. Carlson’s advice and fostering of collaborative efforts were instrumental in achieving breakthrough intelligence insights.
LLNL’s Charles Ball and Debbie Ball each received the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Medal for Exceptional Public Service. While on assignment with OSD, Charles Ball served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Threat Reduction and Arms Control; Debbie Ball was a senior policy advisor in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile and Defense Policy.
Physicist Christopher Cross received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award from the Department of the Army for his service as a member of the Army Science Board. The honor is the second highest award granted by the Secretary of the Army or a major Army commander to civilian personnel.
Professional Society Fellows
Three scientists have been selected as 2021 fellows of the American Physical Society (see box below).
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) elevated Livermore Computing’s chief technology officer Bronis R. de Supinski to the rank of fellow, recognizing his leadership in the design and use of large-scale computing systems. HPCwire also chose de Supinski as one of its “People to Watch” in 2021.
Computational mathematician Robert Falgout was selected as a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) for his work on multilevel solvers and his service to the community.
The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) named LLNL computational scientist Carol Woodward as a fellow. The award highlights her efforts to encourage more women to pursue careers in mathematics and her leadership in AWM and SIAM activities.
Science and Technology Awards
The American Meteorological Society selected atmospheric scientist Mark Zelinka to receive the Henry G. Houghton Award for early-career achievements, including “innovative advances in understanding the critical involvement of clouds” in climate interactions.
Physicist Tammy Ma received the 2021 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award from Fusion Power Associates for “the impressive and influential body of scientific work she has completed during her relatively short career to date.”
Experimentalist Peter Celliers was recently elected vice-chair of the American Physical Society Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter. This one-year responsibility is the first of a four-year executive committee assignment.
LLNL computational engineering postdoctoral researchers Felipe Leno da Silva and Ruben Glatt were invited to virtually attend the international Heidelberg Laureate Forum to meet and interact with laureates of the major prizes in mathematics and computer science.
The Krell Institute, a nonprofit organization serving the scientific and educational communities, awarded computational scientist Jeff Hittinger with its 2021 James Corones Award in Leadership, Community Building and Communication, which recognizes mid-career scientists for their research and mentoring accomplishments.
LLNL postdoctoral fellows Oluwatomi (Tomi) Akindele, Matthew Edwards and Wei Jia Ong were selected by the University of California Office of the President to attend the 70th annual Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting in Germany to interact with 30 to 40 Nobel laureates and 600 other students and postdocs from around the world.
Laboratory retiree and consultant Craig Tarver was honored with the American Physical Society’s 2021 George E. Duvall Shock Compression Science Award for “theoretical advancement of the understanding of shock-driven reactions and detonation in condensed phase explosives.”
Computer scientist Rushil Anirudh co-authored a paper that received the Best Paper Honorable Mention award at the 2021 IEEE Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision. The award was given based on the work’s potential impact to the field.
Three LLNL scientists have been selected as 2021 fellows of the American Physical Society: Tammy Ma, Xueqiao Xu, and Tilo Doeppner. The new fellows have physics expertise in areas ranging from intense laser–matter interactions and inertial fusion energy science to leading the development of edge simulation models and codes to pioneering new regimes of warm dense matter experimental science.
