Kimberly S. Budil sets the strategic vision for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and exercises broad delegated powers to ensure successful execution of programs and operations to enhance national security through application of cutting-edge science and technology and to maintain an outstanding and multidisciplinary workforce. She leads the development and implementation of the Laboratory’s scientific vision, goals and objectives and serves as the Laboratory’s highest-level liaison with the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, the LLNS Board of Governors, the University of California and other government, public and private organizations.
Budil leads a workforce of more than 8,700 employees and manages an annual operating budget of approximately $3 billion. Along with the directors of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, she shares the responsibility of providing the United States government with an annual institutional assessment of the safety, security and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and enterprise. She is the 13th director of the Laboratory and serves as president of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
Budil has held roles of increasing management responsibility at the Laboratory, most recently serving as principal associate director for Strategic Deterrence. Budil served as a detailee twice in Washington, D.C and was Vice President for National Labs at the University of California Office of the President. She currently serves on several boards and participates in numerous professional and community outreach activities.
Budil holds a Ph.D. in engineering and applied science from the University of California, Davis, where she was a Hertz Fellow, and a B.S. in physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Carolyn Zerkle is principal deputy director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and vice president of Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), LLC. Zerkle participates in the day-to-day management of the Laboratory and works closely with the Livermore Field Office (LFO), the LLNS Board of Governors, the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), other national laboratories, industry and the local community.
She oversees key institutional priorities, including safe and successful operations and vital infrastructure to support program deliverables; recruitment and retention of a quality operations workforce; and efficient business and operational approaches.
Previously, Zerkle was senior director for Project Execution in the Plutonium Infrastructure Directorate in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Weapons Program, overseeing an $8 billion portfolio of nuclear construction and equipment installation in support of LANL’s pit manufacturing mission.
Zerkle earned an undergraduate degree in architecture and civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduate degrees in architecture and business, focusing on nuclear construction project management, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Patricia Falcone is the Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). She is the principal advocate for the Lab’s science and technology base and oversees the strategic development of the Lab's capabilities. She is responsible for LLNL’s collaborative research with academia and the private sector, as well as its internal investment portfolio.
Falcone joined LLNL in 2015 after six years at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where she served as the Senate-confirmed Associate Director of OSTP for National Security and International Affairs. In that capacity, she led a team that advised on the science and technology dimensions of national security policy deliberations and on federal support of national security research and development.
Earlier, Falcone held technical and management positions at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, including Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff and senior manager for Systems Analysis and Engineering.
Falcone chairs the advisory committee for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. She is a member of the State Department’s International Security Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. She is a member of the Leadership Council of the Government-University-Industry-Philanthropy Research Roundtable (GUIPRR) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and a commissioner on the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers led by the Council on Competitiveness.
Falcone earned a B.S.E. in aerospace and mechanical sciences at Princeton University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
Bradley Wallin leads the Strategic Deterrence Directorate in its mission to ensure the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and to support the transformation of the stockpile and the nuclear weapons enterprise for the future. He also stewards the broad range of science, technology and engineering capabilities and infrastructure that underpin the Stockpile Stewardship Program and lay the foundation for the long-term health and vitality of the Laboratory.
Wallin has more than 24 years of experience in nuclear security and has served as program director for Weapon Physics and Design, as program manager for Nuclear Threat Reduction and as a technical advisor to the Office of Defense Science at the National Nuclear Security Administration. His technical career spans the many disciplines of weapon physics, including design, code development and management of nuclear and high energy density facilities and experiments.
Wallin holds a Ph.D. in physics and M.S. in computer science and physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as well as a B.S. in engineering physics from the Colorado School of Mines.
Sheryl Hingorani is the Chief of Staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where she works closely with the Laboratory Director and the senior management team to enhance institutional planning and communications, as well as sponsor and partner relations. She coordinates Laboratory interactions on governance, strategic planning, new initiatives and priorities to ensure mission success.
Hingorani joined the Lab following a 33-year career at Sandia National Laboratories, where she held a variety of key positions in the nuclear deterrence and homeland security programs. She was the Executive Director of the Albuquerque Committee on Foreign Relations, a local affiliate of the American Committees on Foreign Relations where she also served as Secretary. Hingorani has been an advisor to the Defense Science Board and to the US Council on Competitiveness. She was an affiliate to the California Council on Science and Technology, and is an alumnus of the Seminar XXI Fellowship program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies.
Hingorani has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Cosmos Club.
Hingorani recently completed an offsite assignment as senior advisor to the deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Defense Programs, where she also supported the NNSA Administrator and the Principal Deputy Administrator with interagency policy development and enterprise wide strategic initiatives.
Bruce Hendrickson leads the Computing Directorate, which is responsible for the full breadth of the Laboratory’s computational needs including research, platforms and services. Hendrickson sets strategic directions for the directorate, emphasizing mathematics, algorithms, systems software and platforms for advanced modeling and simulation as well as the development and deployment of data science technologies to address the Laboratory’s complex applications. He is also an advocate for providing world-class IT support for the Laboratory’s diverse mission and business needs.
Before joining the Laboratory, Hendrickson led the Center for Computational Research at Sandia National Laboratories and managed Sandia’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program. His research has garnered international awards, and he is a frequently invited contributor to national computing initiatives.
Hendrickson has a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University and degrees in physics and mathematics from Brown University. He is a former Hertz Fellow and a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Anup Singh is the principal associate director for Engineering — an organization of approximately 2,900 employees. As principal associate director, Singh manages a team and facilities that cover the full range of the Lab’s world-class engineering expertise, manufacturing capabilities and research to ensure the long-term success of its programs.
Singh joined the Lab in 2021 after serving as director of the Center for Biological and Engineering Sciences at Sandia National Laboratories. There, he managed critical capabilities in support of Sandia's Energy and Homeland Security, Global Security, Nuclear Deterrence and Advanced Science and Technology portfolios.
“People first, mission always” is Singh’s guiding principle: he champions the multitude of workforce development programs in the directorate, including the Engineering Leadership Development Program and the Engineering Mentoring Program.
Singh is internationally recognized for his scientific leadership in microfluidics, having authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and patented 40 inventions. He holds a bachelor of technology degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, in Bombay, India, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Huban A. Gowadia leads the Global Security Directorate, managing a workforce responsible for building and executing intelligence, nonproliferation, counterproliferation and counterterrorism programs. She heads incident response to threats across the spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive sources and oversees programs critical to global security in energy technologies, infrastructure protection and cyber and space security.
For more than 20 years, Gowadia has supported national security and served at the highest levels of government, including multiple organizations in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Aviation Administration. As acting administrator at the Transportation Security Administration, she led more than 60,000 employees charged with protecting critical transportation systems and the traveling public. She also served as the presidentially appointed Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office at DHS.
Gowadia joined the Laboratory as the National Ignition Facility and Photon Science deputy principal associate director for programs. Gowadia has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Penn State University and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama.
Jeff Bude serves as acting principal associate director of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility and Photon Science (NIF&PS) directorate and the directorate’s deputy principal associate director for Science and Technology (S&T). He is a member of the senior leadership team and serves as a senior advisor on the directorate’s major S&T issues and initiatives. Bude is responsible for working with NIF&PS senior managers, other Laboratory programs, the discipline directorates and the institution to formulate a long-term vision and strategy for S&T development within NIF&PS.
While at LLNL, Bude has made important contributions to the understanding, prevention and mitigation of laser-induced damage in high-fluence, high-power optical materials, helping to develop enabling technologies for inertial confinement fusion and high energy density science programs. He is a fellow of the IEEE, holds 12 U.S. patents and has more than 160 publications in the areas of solid-state physics, optical and electronic materials and devices, laser-material interaction science and computational physics.
Bude came to the Laboratory from Bell Labs, where he served as a division leader and was named a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1992 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he studied high field transport in semiconductors.
Cynthia Rivera leads the organizations of the Operations and Business Directorate and engages collaboratively across the directorate’s teams, enabling the Laboratory’s efficient operation in hiring, operations, maintenance and communications. She represents the Laboratory externally to the Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration, peer organizations and laboratories, private industry and the local community.
With more than 28 years of leadership experience at DOE and Department of Defense facilities, her background includes support and technical operations, as well as project management. Before joining the Laboratory, Cynthia served as manager of functional resources at Bechtel Power Company’s Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4 construction project.
Rivera holds an M.S. in communication studies and a certificate in business management, both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Glenn Fox is the principal associate director for Physical and Life Sciences. In this position, he leads approximately 1,400 talented technical and support staff members that work together to solve complex national security challenges and advance the scientific foundations of the Laboratory in a wide range of areas, including atmosphere, earth and energy; biology and biotechnology; materials science; nuclear and chemical science; and physics. He has also overseen expansion into newer mission spaces, such as materials for energy and quantum computing, and the formation of new LLNL centers to focus innovation and external engagement, such as the High Energy Density Science Center, Laboratory for Energy Applications for the Future, Space Science Institute and Livermore Center for Quantum Science.
With more than 30 years of leadership experience in physical, chemical and life sciences, Fox has held a variety of key positions at the Laboratory, including deputy associate director of Science and Technology and leader of the directorate’s Chemical Sciences Division. As director of the Forensic Science Center, he helped position the center at the forefront of forensic science and attribution of weapons of mass destruction.
Fox has a Ph.D. and an M.S. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a B.S. in chemistry from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon.
As chief human resources officer, Durham has responsibility for the development of human resources strategies, programs and initiatives, including Lab Culture. As HR associate director, he leads the HR organization and manages a team of ~150 personnel and a budget of ~$30 million with responsibility for Compensation and Benefits, Human Resources Operations, Talent Acquisition, Workforce and Organization Development, Training, Military and Veterans Programs and the Livermore Laboratory Employee Services Association. Durham also serves on key institutional and external committees, and interfaces extensively with the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Durham has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources, including working as the Human Resources business unit manager at Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tennessee and supporting Duke Energy’s Nuclear Generation Department, operating out of the Oconee Nuclear Station.
Durham holds an M.B.A. in Human Resources Management from Gardner-Webb University and a Certified Labor Relations Leader certificate from Michigan State University.
Cliff Shang is currently associate principal deputy director for Weapons Infrastructure concurrently serving as director of Laboratory Infrastructure where he leads an integrated organization responsible for the planning, sustainment and modernization of LLNL’s capital infrastructure base.
Shang has 33 years at the Laboratory, with 30 years in the weapons program with specialty in quantum devices and numerical methods in nonlinear systems. His research focus has been simulation and design of space-charge dominated beam sources, numerical methods to solution of hyperbolic and parabolic systems, analysis and design of high-power components for fusion plasma heating and nuclear weapons enterprise modeling.
Shang has received five Defense Program Awards of Excellence (2004 Individual Award for Enterprise Modeling, 2005 for Nuclear Weapons Hydrotest Program, 2016 for Capabilities Based Infrastructure Program Team, 2017 for Tri-Lab Support of Nuclear Posture Review, 2018 for SSMP NSE Team), three NNSA Safety, Infrastructure and Operations Excellence Awards (2015 Mission Dependency Index, 2016 Deep Dive Process, 2020 Infrastructure Stewardship) and a 2017 Secretary’s Achievement Award.
Benjy Grover is the associate principal deputy director and the Laboratory transformation officer.
In his role as associate principal deputy director, Grover collaborates closely with the Director’s Office staff on key issues that affect the efficient and effective operation of the Laboratory. He leads and manages initiatives alongside senior Laboratory officials, representing the Director’s Office on various institutional committees and boards. His focus encompasses operations, mission execution, transformation, safety, security and budget management. Additionally, Grover serves as a member of LLNL’s Business Council and leads both the Principal Deputies Committee and the Operations Community of Practice.
As Laboratory transformation officer, Grover helps to drive, coordinate and enable many of the Lab’s transformation efforts in culture, people management, policy, business systems and transformation-related strategic planning.
Grover previously served as the associate deputy director for Program Enablement in Strategic Deterrence, where he led multiple functions including Knowledge Management, Information Technology, the Office of Classification and Export Control and provided line and staffing leadership to the 900 employees in Strategic Deterrence. He has also served in various leadership positions in the computing directorate including as a division leader.
He holds a U.S. Patent (#7,339,584) for a 2D finite-element mesh generation algorithm and an M.S. and B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Brigham Young University.
Breanna Bishop leads the planning and execution of an integrated internal and external communications program that effectively informs and engages employees, increases awareness and understanding of the Laboratory, its programs and its missions and ensures the Lab’s image and reputation are upheld. She works to align communications efforts with LLNL strategy and collaborates with senior leadership and teams of communicators across the Lab to define communication priorities and initiatives.
In partnership with Government Relations and External Affairs, she coordinates with diverse stakeholders, including local communities, the State of California, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the intelligence community and others. Bishop joined LLNL in 2011 and has led a wide array of communications efforts, serving as the acting director and deputy director of the Public Affairs Office. Previously, she served as the public relations manager for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She holds a B.S. in mass communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and an M.A. in higher education administration from the University of South Dakota.
Rachelle Jeppson serves as the Laboratory chief financial officer and the treasurer of Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), LLC. In this role, she leads the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) which is comprised of a wide variety of mission-enabling financial functions including the Laboratory’s accounting, budgeting, financial compliance, disbursement, planning and resource management functions. Jeppson has more than 30 years of experience in financial discipline areas including financial accounting, analysis, policy and process development and compliance. She has held a variety of leadership roles including deputy CFO/controller at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), controller at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and director of ethics and compliance at the University of California Office of the President. Prior to her UC assignment she held various positions within the OCFO Directorate at LLNL.
Jeppson holds a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in accounting from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Sue Marlais is the chief information officer (CIO) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In this role, Marlais executes all institutional information technology (IT) efforts, including business application development and support, institutional data center management, networking and telecommunications infrastructure, institutional services, customer service desk, cyber security and engagement with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of the CIO.
Marlais partners with the Lab’s senior management team and functional business customers to understand requirements and deliver IT solutions that enable the mission and operations functions. She works with Livermore Information Technology’s leadership, programs and functional business leaders to identify priorities and develop a technical roadmap that delivers technologies and services to the Laboratory to support a modernized workplace environment.
Most recently, Marlais served as LLNL’s principal deputy CIO since 2011. Previously, she served as the IT manager for Strategic Deterrence and the division leader for Computation’s Applications, Simulations and Quality Division. Her education includes a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Chico.
Ashley Bahney is the acting deputy chief of staff to the director. She is responsible for a wide variety of Director’s Office functions, including senior management team coordination, supporting the Lab director in strategic initiative development and facilitating enhanced interactions with DOE/NNSA, its labs, plants and sites and other government agencies, as well as academia and the private sector.
Previously, she served as chief of staff for Strategic Deterrence (SD), where she held responsibility for enhancing coordination across the SD Senior Leadership Team as well as the development of organizational strategies and priorities within SD programs.
Prior to this position, she spent nine years in Global Security as an analyst, associate program leader for Counterterrorism and Foreign Nuclear Weapons Intelligence Initiative (FNWII) Tri-Lab Coordinator. Bahney also brings with her experience from working at the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Defense.
Bahney holds an M.A. in international affairs from the University of California, San Diego, a B.A. in international relations from the University of California, Davis and a certificate in national security affairs from Texas A&M University.
Matt Garrett is the director of the Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The IPO serves as the focal point for LLNL engagement with the private sector, working with Lab colleagues to advance the development and commercialization of LLNL scientific discoveries with intellectual property protection, support and structures for effective collaborations, entrepreneurship training and pursuit of business development activities.
Prior to joining LLNL, Garrett served as Chief Technology Officer and Director of Technology Transfer and Private Partnerships at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Prior to joining SLAC, Garrett served as Commercialization Manager in the Technology Transfer Office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Garrett also served as deputy director of the Center for Technical Intelligence Studies and Research at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT).
Previously, Garrett participated in the development and manufacturing of handheld and robot-mounted explosives detection platforms. He was honored with the 2020 Department of Energy Technology Transfer Working Group (TTWG) Best-in-Class Award for IP Management, a 2020 UT-Battelle Distinguished Innovation Award, and was part of a team at ORNL that received a 2021 R&D100 Award. Garrett holds an M.S. in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University.
Bill Stern heads the Office of Laboratory Oversight (OLO) and serves as LLNL’s chief audit executive and chief ethics officer, reporting administratively to the Laboratory Deputy Director and functionally to the Board of Governors through the Audit, Ethics and Assurance Committee.
In this role, Stern leads OLO efforts which include Mission Assurance and Mission Integrity responsibilities for LLNL, encompassing Quality Assurance, Performance Assurance, Enterprise Risk, Audit and Ethics functions. This work helps ensure the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of LLNL through the performance of integrity and assurance services.
Prior to joining the Lab, Stern amassed 30 years of experience in Audits and Investigations, serving as a senior auditor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and one term as inspector general for the Los Angeles Unified School District. While with the FBI, Stern served in a diplomatic capacity as a counterterrorism attaché to the United Kingdom, and later as the legal attaché to The Netherlands and Europol.
Stern holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California.
Des Pilkington is the director for Strategy and Planning. In this role, Pilkington is responsible for a wide variety of Director’s Office functions, including the Laboratory’s strategy and annual Lab plans, budget and analysis planning, systems analysis and coordination of the mission focus areas (MFAs) and objectives and key results (OKRs).
Previously, Pilkington served as principal deputy principal associate director for Strategic Deterrence (SD). He holds more than 40 years of experience in the nuclear weapon design field — serving in previous leadership roles in both primary and secondary design programs. He also held roles as the program director for SD’s Weapon Physics and Design Program and division leader for SD's Design Physics Division. Pilkington served on assignment to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in England, where he served as head of the High-Performance Computing (HPC) Department and was responsible for their HPC strategy, development and delivery.
Pilkington received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and his master’s degree in astrophysics, both from London University. He served more than 20 years in various code development and management roles at AWE before joining LLNL in 2001.
Christopher Land is the General Counsel of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Before this he spent a decade as the General Counsel at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), where he provided advice, opinions and representation on all areas of law affecting the Institution. Among his duties were engaging in strategy and business development; providing counsel and advice concerning compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations affecting research and higher education organizations; negotiating, drafting and reviewing agreements; and developing industry and institutional collaborations.
He was responsible for providing proactive counsel on a broad array of critical, strategic and public policy issues to WHOI’s Board of Directors, the Director and President; and all senior managers. The size, complexity and scope of the WHOI community generates a range of complex, cutting-edge legal issues. Many of these are unique to research and academic environments and include issues such as academic freedom, sponsored research, tech transfer, IP licensing, unions, shared governance and student rights and obligations.
Land received a B.A. from San Francisco State University and is a 2002 graduate, Order of the Coif and cum laude, of Tulane Law School. He was counsel at Goodwin Procter of Boston, where he represented clients in various industries that included pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, power and energy companies and academic and research institutions — including WHOI. Prior to Boston, Land was in New York for ten years and was a Senior Associate at DLA Piper and Clifford Chance before that.
A native of Newport Beach, California, Land was raised “sailing and swimming in the ocean every day,” and is now an avid offshore sailor, racer and technical scuba diver.
Rosaline Cohen Benno is the acting senior director of the Office of Government and External Affairs (OGEA). Cohen Benno is responsible for leadership and oversight of the OGEA, an organization that supports the Lab community in engagement efforts at all levels of government and with key external leaders.
Cohen Benno joined the Lab as deputy director of OGEA in October 2023, after more than two decades of working in key policy positions in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her most prominent role was as the House Committee on Homeland Security’s chief counsel. In the 13 years that she held that position, Cohen Benno advised members of Congress on a wide range of homeland security issues and managed a diverse staff of policy experts and attorneys through all phases of the policymaking process. Among her notable accomplishments while at the Committee was enactment of the “Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act” and the establishment of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Cohen Benno holds a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and a B.A. from The Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.
