Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Institutional History

Abstract

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory founded by the University of California in 1952. It is primarily funded by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and managed and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), a partnership of the University of California, Bechtel Corporation, Babcock and Wilcox, the URS Corporation, and Battelle Memorial Institute. In 1981, it was designated a natinoal laboratory and took on its current name.

Laboratory directors

1981-88, Roger Batzel.

1988-94, John Nuckolls.

1994-2002, Bruce Tarter.

2002-06, Michael Anastasio.

2006-11, George Miller.

2011-13, Penrose C. Albright.

2013-14, Bret Knapp, acting director.

2014-present, William H. Goldstein.

Important Dates

1981Designated a national laboratory and changed name to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore (Calif.).

1981 – 1986John Clauser was on staff.

1981 – 1987David Ceperley was on staff.

1981 – 1988Michael May was on staff.

1981 – 1993Berni Alder was on staff.

1981 – 2000Roger Batzel was on staff.

1981 – 2002C. Bruce Tarter was on staff.

1981 – 2006Michael Anastasio was on staff.

1981 – 2011George Miller was on staff.

1981 – 2015Richard Post was on staff.

1981 – presentWilliam Kruer has been on staff.

1981 – presentJohn D. Anderson has been on staff.

1981 – presentJohn Nuckolls has been on staff.

1981 – presentJohn Lindl has been on staff.

1982 – 2004Robert Laughlin was on staff.

1983 – 1990David Edwards was on staff.

1992Adam Riess was on staff.

2004 – 2009Cherry Murray was on staff.

Places

Headquarters

Livermore (Calif.)

Subjects

Physical laboratories.

Weapons industry.

Citations

Historical information from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory history webpage (https://www.llnl.gov/about/history).

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Albright, Penrose Carballo, 1953-

Director.

Alder, B. J.

Theoretical Physicist.

Anastasio, Michael R.

Staff Member and Manager; Deputy Director, Strategic Operations; and Director.

Anderson, John D., 1930-

Assistant Director to Director, Physics and Laboratory Associate.

Batzel, Roger Elwood

Director and Director Emeritus.

Byer, R. L. (Robert L.), 1942-

Member, Directed Research and Development Program Committee; Director, Advisory Committee; and Member, Advisory Committee, National Ignition Facility.

Ceperley, David

Staff Scientist.

Clauser, John F. (John Francis), 1942-

Research Physicist and Group Leader, 2XIIB Experiment.

Edwards, David F. (David Franklin)

Group Leader and Chief Scientist.

Gibbons, John H., 1929-2015

Consultant.

Goldstein, W.

Director.

Holdren, John P.

Faculty Consultant, Magnetic Fusion Energy Division and Faculty Consultant, Laser and Environmental Directorate.

Knapp, Bret

Director.

Kruer, William L.

Group Leader, Laser Plasma Theory and Simulation and Chief Scientist, Laser Plasma Physics.

Laughlin, Robert B.

Research Physicist.

Lindl, John

Associate Division Leader, Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; Associate Program Leader, Theory and Target Design, and Division Leader, Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; Deputy Program Leader and Division Leader, Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; Deputy Program Leader, Nova Laser Program, Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; Scientific Director, Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; and Chief Scientist, National Ignition Facility.

Marburger, John H., III (John Harmen), 1941-2011

Consultant, Laser Fusion Program.

May, Michael M., 1925-

Associate Director.

Miller, George H. (physicist)

Leader, A-Division; Associate Director, Nuclear Design; Associate Director, Defense and Nuclear Technologies; Associate Director, National Security; Associate Director, National Ignition Facility; Associate Director at Large; and Director.

Murray, Cherry Ann

Deputy Director, Science and Technology.

Nuckolls, John Hopkin

Associate Leader, Laser Fusion Program; Associate Director, Physics; Director; Associate Director at Large; and Divisional Leader, "X" Inertial Fusion Target Design, Laser Fusion Program.

Porkolab, Miklos

Consultant.

Post, Richard F.

Deputy Associate Director, Magnetic Fusion Energy Program and Senior Scientist.

Riess, Adam, 1969-

Research Associate.

Rosner, Robert

Member, External Advisory Committee, National Ignition Facility.

Schramm, David N.

Consultant.

Spruch, Larry

Consultant.

Strickland, Donna Theo, 1959-

Physicist, Laser Division.

Tarter, C. Bruce

Division Leader, Theoretical Physics; Deputy Associate Director; Associate Director, Physics; and Director.

Woosley, Stanford E.

Consultant and Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Nuclear Science Division.

Associates & Members

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Member, Director's Advisory Committee.

Hecht, Jeff

Kidder, R. E. (Ray E.)

MacCracken, Michael C.

Olsen, Clifford W.

Pratt, Richard H., 1934-

Singleton, Mary F.

Taylor, Theodore B., 1925-

Tombrello, Thomas A.

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

Became national laboratory and name changed in 1981.

United States. Department of Energy

Primary funding partner.

Collaborators

Babcock & Wilcox Company

Part of managing and operating partnership.

Battelle Memorial Institute

Part of managing and operating partnership.

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

Lab was originally part of Berkeley and is now part of operating partnership.

Associates

American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics

Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.

University of California, Los Angeles. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Lawrence Livermore Lab nuclear winter study papers, 1972-1993.

Lamont Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Subject

Cliff Olsen papers, 1958-2002.

Lied Library. Special Collections

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

4505 Maryland Parkway Box 457001, Las Vegas, NV 89154-7001, USA

Documents relating to the Laser Research Program at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, 1962-1983.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Jeff Hecht laser pioneer interviews, 1984-1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Mary F. Singleton papers, 1958-2005.

parks Library. Archives of Women in Science and Engineering

Iowa State University

Ames, IA 50011, USA

Oral history interview with Berni J. Alder, 1990 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Michael MacCracken, 2013 April 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Theodore Brewster Taylor, 1989 April 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Thomas Tombrello, 2010 December 26-31.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interviews. Geophysics and Oceanography: Greenland Ice Sheet Project (GISP), 1992-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Richard Pratt papers, 1820-2005 (bulk 1920-1998).

University Archives

University of Pittsburgh

7500 Thomas Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15208, USA

University of California, Los Angeles Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Administrative files, 1959-1990.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Published Resources

Author

Making history-- making a difference : photographs celebrating six decades of excellence / Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory & the University of California.

Subject

Nuclear rites : a weapons laboratory at the end of the Cold War / Hugh Gusterson.

Star warriors : a penetrating look into the lives of the young scientists behind our space age weaponry / by William J. Broad.

Stories of the development of large scale scientific computing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [computer file] : an oral and pictorial history / compiled by George A. Michael.