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Strunk named top scientist at ORNL's Awards Night

  • Bill Strunk received the ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

  • Roderick Jackson received the ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Mission Support.

  • The ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Team Accomplishment team members, standing, l-r: Jiaqiang Yan, Alan Tennant, Craig Bridges, David Mandrus, Adam Aczel, Garrett Granroth. Seated, l-r: Matthew Stone, Arnab Banerjee, Stephen Nagler, Mark Lumsden.

  • Bill Strunk received the ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

  • Roderick Jackson received the ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Mission Support.

  • The ORNL Director's Award for Outstanding Team Accomplishment team members, standing, l-r: Jiaqiang Yan, Alan Tennant, Craig Bridges, David Mandrus, Adam Aczel, Garrett Granroth. Seated, l-r: Matthew Stone, Arnab Banerjee, Stephen Nagler, Mark Lumsden.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 21, 2016 – Bill Strunk of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate has received the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

ORNL Director Thom Mason presented the top researcher award to Strunk during Friday night’s annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor of ORNL for the Department of Energy.

Strunk was recognized for exemplary leadership of ORNL’s uranium science and engineering programs, which has led to enhancements in the nation’s nuclear security. He is also credited with the establishment of research and development capabilities and facilities that will enable ORNL to excel in vitally important areas of research. Strunk, who works in the Enrichment Science and Engineering Division, also earned the Division Level Research Leadership award.

Roderick Jackson of the Energy and Transportation Science Division received the Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Mission Support.

Jackson was cited for exemplary leadership in communicating the innovative science and technology behind the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy Demonstration Project, a collaborative effort that integrates advanced systems for generating, storing and using electrical power for both buildings and vehicles. Jackson also received the Science Communicator award.

A discovery that advances the understanding of quantum spin liquids in real materials received the Director’s Award for Outstanding Team Accomplishment. The multidisciplinary team’s efforts culminated in the observation of fractionalized quantum spin liquid excitations, which may represent a step toward solid-state technology for quantum computers. The team, led by the Neutron Sciences Directorate’s Arnab Banerjee, also includes Adam Aczel, Craig Bridges, Garrett Granroth,  Mark Lumsden, David Mandrus, Stephen Nagler, Matthew Stone, Alan Tennant and Jiaqiang Yan. The team also received the team Research Accomplishment award.

Awards Night winners are selected by committees and approved by the laboratory director. Nominations are made by division, program or directorate managers. The Director’s Awards are selected by the laboratory director with input from the deputy director for science and technology and the deputy director for operations.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.