Davidson named new director for Los Alamos Center for Homeland Security

Contact: Nancy Ambrosiano, nwa@lanl.gov, (505) 667-0471 (03-114)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 21, 2003 -- Los Alamos National Laboratory Director G. Peter Nanos today announced the appointment of J. Wiley Davidson as director of the Laboratory’s Center for Homeland Security. Davidson, who has served as acting center director since June, succeeds Thomas W. Meyer, who has retired.

“The appointment of a person of Wiley’s caliber and experience as center director demonstrates my strong commitment to making this Laboratory’s outstanding technical resources available to the nation to help preserve the security of our country and its citizens. I continue to be excited about the good work that is already being done through the CHS, and about the partnership we are forging with the Department of Homeland Security,” Nanos said.

As center director, Davidson will be the Laboratory’s principal point of contact with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He will organize and lead efforts to apply the Laboratory’s considerable technical expertise and resources to solving national problems related to homeland security. Davidson will be responsible for all of the Laboratory’s programs for DHS, including closely related programs and activities for other federal, state and local agencies. He will report to Nanos and work closely with other senior managers to develop and implement plans that broadly engage the Laboratory’s science and technology base in support of homeland security.

The Center for Homeland Security (CHS) was established in September 2002 to engage the Laboratory's broad capabilities in the areas of counterterrorism and homeland security. It provides a single point of contact for all external organizations such as DHS that seek the assistance and involvement of Los Alamos' technical experts. The organization's emphasis is in the key areas of nuclear and radiological science and technology, critical infrastructure protection and chemical and biological science and technology.

Davidson said, “I look forward to coordinating our Laboratory’s long-standing efforts toward these evolving national needs. Los Alamos has been engaged in homeland security and counterterrorism work for the last 10 years, and we have been developing and applying nuclear detection technologies for decades.

“In leading the CHS, I hope to recognize and centralize those parts of our institution that can continue to serve the nation in these important areas,” Davidson noted.

Current Los Alamos projects with a key role in homeland security include BASIS (the Biological Aerosol Sentry and Information System), a biological early warning system that was tested and installed at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

A novel nuclear detector, the Palm CZT Spectrometer, is also in development and deployment, providing real-time gamma and neutron detection and isotope identification in a handheld device. The nuclear detector’s data can be easily uploaded by a nontechnical user, when desired, to a national experts network.

Additional Los Alamos success stories include anthrax bacterial DNA analysis, and the computerized feature identification tool known as GENIE, for Genetic Image Exploitation, which won an R&D 100 Award in 2002 from Research and Development Magazine.

Davidson’s previous positions at the Laboratory include deputy center director at CHS and group leader for the Systems Engineering and Integration and the Strategic Systems Engineering groups, in which he led teams of engineers and computer software developers focused on systems, mission and engineering analysis and integration. His technical leadership has extended to projects in chemical/biological defense, counterproliferation, counterterrorism, nuclear weapons safety, accelerator/laser operations and conventional weapons technologies, among others.

Davidson holds doctoral and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos develops and applies science and technology to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent; reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism; and solve national problems in defense, energy, environment and infrastructure.