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Kim Budil, a “respected and trusted” scientist with more than 30 years of experience in management and leadership, was recently named the new director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, officials announced last week.
Budil, who begins her new job on March 2, is the Laboratory’s 13th director and the first woman to serve in the role. She will also replace Bill Goldstein as president of Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), after announcing his resignation last summer.
“I am deeply honored to take on the role of laboratory director,” Budil said in a statement. “Our lab has a storied history and continues this spirit of innovation and impact today through the efforts of our amazing workforce.”
In addition to setting the Lab’s “strategic vision,” Budil will oversee its development and implementation. She will also provide President Joe Biden with “an annual technical assessment of the state of the nuclear weapons stockpile including its safety, security and effectiveness.”
Starting her career at LLNL in 1987, Budil has held a number of positions since then including principal associate director for Weapons and Complex Integration, and was also responsible for governance and oversight of the Livermore, Berkeley and Los Alamos national laboratories while vice president for national laboratories in the UC Office of the President. She was also a senior adviser to the undersecretary for science in the Department of Energy.
Budil received her physics degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago before obtaining her Ph.D in engineering and applied science from UC Davis in 1994. She has been published extensively and been a part of many professional and community outreach activities, according to LLNL.
Several days later, officials also announced that Anup Singh was selected as the new associate director of engineering, following a nationwide search that started in October after former associate director Anantha Krishnan retired.
Beginning Feb. 22, Singh will lead approximately 2,300 employees “who provide world-class engineering expertise, capabilities and research to ensure the success of the Laboratory’s programs and sustain the long-term vitality of the Laboratory’s engineering foundations.”
Singh comes from Sandia National Laboratories, where he previously was director of the Center for Biological and Engineering Sciences and managed “critical capabilities in support of Sandia’s Energy & Homeland Security, Global Security, Nuclear Deterrence and Advanced Science and Technology portfolios.”
Last year Singh worked on operational response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic at Sandia. Before then, he won two 2019 Secretary of Energy Achievement Honor Awards for his contributions.
Internationally recognized for his work in microfluidics and published in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, Singh has served on numerous review and advisory panels including the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board, the National Research Council’s Chemical Science and Technology panel, and the National Institutes of Health’s Instrumentation and Systems Development Study Section.
Singh holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and a chemical engineering doctorate from North Carolina State University.