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Michael R. Anastasio
Director
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory


              More photos...Michael R. Anastasio is the ninth director to lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since it was founded in 1952. Anastasio began his Laboratory career focused on the design, evaluation, and understanding of nuclear systems. As director, he is leading the Laboratory in its mission to ensure national security and apply science and technology to the important problems of our time. The Laboratory is a principal contributor to the Department of Energy's programs to maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and to reduce the international dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Anastasio received a bachelor's degree in physics from Johns Hopkins University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His career at the Livermore Laboratory began in 1980 as a physicist in B-Division, one of the two nuclear weapons design physics divisions. He later was named leader of the division before serving as associate director for Defense and Nuclear Technologies, responsible for all activities in the Laboratory's nuclear weapons program. In that capacity, he was instrumental in the development and execution of the national Stockpile Stewardship Program.

In his previous position as deputy director for Strategic Operations, Anastasio played a key role in relationships with the University of California and the National Nuclear Security Administration. He also interacted with the Department of Energy on Contract 48 issues, and developed policies and programs to support the Laboratory's mission while achieving excellence in business practices and compliance with regulatory and contractual requirements. He had management
responsibility for all operational issues at Lawrence Livermore, and served as the chair of the Council for National Security and chair of the Council for Strategic Operations. He served in Washington as a scientific adviser at the Department of Energy, providing advice to senior members of the department on a variety of Stockpile Stewardship Program issues.

He is the recipient of the 1990 DOE Weapons Recognition of Excellence Award for technical leadership in nuclear design. The award acknowledged Anastasio's outstanding theoretical and experimental contributions to understanding boost physics. He is also a member of Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society.