Interim Director, Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality
David Mandl is the interim director of Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality (ESH&Q) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this position, he oversees an organization that broadly supports ORNL through expertise in engineering management, environmental protection, health services, nuclear and radiological protection, performance analysis, safety, technical training, and waste management. On a day-to-day basis, ESH&Q serves a critical role in the continuous improvement of the Laboratory’s safety culture.
David previously served as general counsel of ORNL and secretary of UT-Battelle, LLC. He has over 20 years of legal experience, primarily in the areas of environmental, safety, and health law; nuclear safety and radiological protection; security (including physical and information/cyber security); corporate law and governance; and fraud and the civil False Claims Act. David has served as primary legal counsel to various ORNL organizations, committees and projects, and routinely advises senior management regarding regulatory compliance, risk management, and public relations. In addition, from 2014 until 2016, David served as deputy director of the ORNL Enrichment Science and Engineering Programs, a DOE-funded research and development program aimed at maintaining and advancing the United States domestic uranium enrichment capability for national security purposes. David also serves as an associate director on the ORNL Federal Credit Union Board of Directors.
Prior to joining ORNL as the ESH&Q attorney in 2009, he spent 10 years in private practice at two global law firms representing commercial clients in environmental, health, and safety matters.
David holds a bachelor of science degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona, with a structured split minor in math, physics, and chemistry. He graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was administrative editor of the International Environmental Law Review.