William Bookless Named Brookhaven Lab's Assistant Director for Policy and Strategic Planning
December 20, 2011
UPTON, NY — William Bookless, a staff research physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and senior advisor, policy planning, analysis and assessment for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has been named the assistant laboratory director for policy and strategic planning at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), effective January 3. He succeeds J. Patrick Looney, who has become chair of Brookhaven Lab’s Sustainable Energy Technologies Department.
Bookless said, “I am excited to join the outstanding staff and management team at Brookhaven and to help create the next phase of the Laboratory’s contributions to the science community and the nation’s economy.”
Specifically, Bookless will oversee the Laboratory’s business plan, which develops the direction of its scientific programs, as well as the Laboratory Directed Research & Development Program, a competitive program for Lab scientists in which BNL designates funding for highly innovative and exploratory research that fits into its mission.
Bookless will focus on two major areas as he begins his new position: broadening Brookhaven Lab’s research to enable a sustainable future for the Lab, and strengthening the recognition of Brookhaven Lab as a world-class scientific institution to ensure that it will continue to attract the world’s best science, technology and engineering talent.
After earning a B.A. in physics from Southern Illinois University in 1975 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wyoming in 1980, Bookless began his career at LLNL in 1980 as a project leader and chief scientist with the task of determining the interactions between high current electron beams – which were being considered for ship terminal defense by the U.S. Navy – and potential targets, primarily nuclear weapons. Over his 32-year career at LLNL, Bookless has held numerous positions, including program leader, Nuclear Weapons Information Project; deputy associate director, Defense and Nuclear Technologies; and associate director, Safety and Environmental Protection. Since 2009, he has been stationed in Washington, D.C., as the senior advisor to the undersecretary of energy for nuclear security.
2011-11372 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
