Director announces newest Laboratory Fellows

Contact: Kevin Roark, camerahead@lanl.gov, (505) 665-0582

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 13, 2001 -- Los Alamos National Laboratory Director John Browne has selected six Los Alamos staff members as Laboratory Fellows, the Laboratory's highest scientific honor. The honor is made yearly to technical staff members who have sustained a high level of excellence in programs important to the Laboratory's mission, made important scientific discoveries that lead to widespread use, or been recognized as leaders in their fields both within and outside of the Laboratory.

"I'm pleased to recognize these distinguished members of our technical staff," said Browne. "They are representative of the dedicated men and women at Los Alamos that serve our nation and the world with technical and scientific excellence."

The new Fellows are John Bdzil of the Dynamic Experimentation Division, David L. Clark of the Nuclear Materials Technology Division, Paul Jackson and Thomas Terwilliger of the Bioscience Division, Joe Thompson of the Materials Science and Technology Division and Merri Wood-Schultz of the Applied Physics Division.

Bdzil was named Laboratory Fellow for having attained international recognition in the field of detonation theory. His work has had an impact on many of the important theoretical developments in detonation theory over the last thirty years. Bdzil's detonation shock dynamics method has become the recognized standard for highly accurate numerical modeling of detonation in high-explosive systems. This work has improved the Laboratory's ability to model the behavior of complex explosive systems.

Clark was named for his exceptional work in the structural inorganic and environmental chemistries of the actinides and his stewardship of the Seaborg Institute at Los Alamos. He is recognized internationally for his efforts to bring state-of-the-art molecular science concepts in structural characterization and theory of inorganic chemistry to the chemistry of the actinide elements. Most notable example of these efforts has been Clark's work in the development of the new research field of Molecular Environmental Science where the understanding of molecular processes is used to unravel the fate and transport of actinide ions in the environment.

Jackson was recognized for his creative, highly regarded research in the fields of molecular and cellular biology and his recent efforts in the area of biological threat reduction. He is responsible for developing novel applications and pioneering research tools used in the field including polymerase chain reaction-based and amplified fragment length polymorphism-based methods for the rapid detection and unambiguous identification of biological threat agents and other human and animal pathogens. Jackson came to Los Alamos as a Director's Funded Postdoctoral Fellow. He was awarded the Laboratory's Distinguished Patent Award in 1990 and is an co-author on five U.S. patents.

Terwilliger was recognized for his outstanding work in the development of the computer program SOLVE, which enables the creation of automated solutions of protein crystal structures from x-ray diffraction data sets. He has also been a leader in the development of a new field called "structural genomics," which aims to discover the three-dimensional shapes of all proteins in nature. He is the leader of a worldwide consortium of over 250 scientists applying the ideas of structural genomics to find new anti-tuberculosis drugs by identifying the structures of proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Terwilliger is an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow and a recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award, a 1998 R&D 100 Award and a Los Alamos Distinguished Copyright Award.

Thompson efforts in discovering and understanding uncoventional forms of superconductivity and magnetism have contributed substantially to Los Alamos' reputation as a center of world-class materials research. Thompson is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received awards for his work from the Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He also is one of the top 150 most frequently cited physicists in the world.

Wood-Schultz was honored for major contributions to the Laboratory's nuclear weapons program, particularly for her work in weapons certification both before and after the cessation of nuclear testing. She has distinguished herself as a foremost expert on the physics certification of the secondaries of nuclear weapons and is widely recognized for her important contributions in nuclear weapons intelligence analysis. She has served as a long-time steward of a stockpiled thermonuclear weapon system and in that capacity has pioneered the technical management of emerging weapons issues.

Only two percent of the Laboratory's current technical staff members can hold the title of "Fellow" at any one time. Fellows are expected to continue to play an important scientific or technical role in the Laboratory and to contribute in significant ways to Laboratory programs and initiatives. Fellows are often called upon to provide analyses of significant issues affecting Laboratory programs and the workforce, particularly any highly technical issues.
Nominations for Fellows were submitted to the members of the Laboratory Fellows Screening Committee which reviewed the nominations and then submitted their recommendations to Director John Browne. The Director selected the top six candidates for the honor.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

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