Director Creates New Homeland Security Organization; Appoints Wayne Shotts to Lead New Organization

Director Michael Anastasio today designated a new Homeland Security Organization at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Wayne Shotts, associate director for the Lab’s Nonproliferation, International Security and Arms Control Directorate, will head the new organization in an acting capacity.

"By creating this new organization, the Laboratory is answering the nation’s call," said Anastasio. "The sole mission of this new organization will be to help the nation win the war on terrorism.

"This new organization will not only play a key role in the Lab’s future but in the future of our nation. I am confident that Dr. Wayne Shotts will help this Lab and the nation achieve its goals."

"This is a challenging opportunity for the Laboratory," said Shotts. "But the Laboratory has a history of providing science and technology to meet the nation’s needs, and this new organization will follow in that tradition. I am very honored to take on this assignment."

Since its creation in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has responded to a number of critical missions for the United States, beginning with the effort to win the Cold War. Over the years the Laboratory’s advances in computations, laser technology and biological research have led to a number of advances—from the creation of medical technologies to address everything from stroke to cancer, to optics that search further into the universe, to insights into the human genome that could one day put an end to a number of diseases.

With the creation of the Homeland Security Organization, the Laboratory unveiled two new technologies to illustrate its commitment to helping the nation win the war on terrorism. ACATS, or Analytical Conflict and Tactical Simulation, can be used to analyze concepts of operation, technology and training for emergency responders. ACATS has been designed to model emergency response operations in a range of urban settings, from the spread of a chemical or biological agent within a building to the search for survivors in the rubble of a bombed building (for more, see accompanying press release).

The second technology, the Homeland Operational Planning System, is being developed in partnership with the California National Guard, specifically for homeland security planning and analyses. HOPS analyses provide insight into the vulnerabilities of elements of U.S. infrastructure and the effectiveness of options for mitigating vulnerabilities and for defending against terrorist attacks (for more, see accompanying press release).

"The Lab’s history is marked by its focus on national security," said Anastasio. "Because homeland security is a natural component of this effort, I fully expect this new organization, under the leadership of Dr. Shotts, to follow in the tradition of this Laboratory."

Joining Shotts in the Homeland Security Organization will be Don Prosnitz, who returns to the Laboratory after serving as chief science adviser to the Department of Justice, and Harry Vantine, leader of the Lab’s Counterterroism and Incident Response division. Prosnitz and Vantine will serve as deputies for strategic plans and programs, respectively.

"Don and Harry are excellent scientists, and their advice and leadership will be beneficial to creating our new organization," said Shotts.

Shotts has had a distinguished career at the Laboratory. As associate director for Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security (NAI), his directorate has provided the United States with advanced technologies, analyses, and expertise for preventing, reversing, and responding to threats to national and international security.

Previously, Shotts was deputy associate director for Defense and Nuclear Technologies, the directorate responsible for overall integration and execution of the nuclear weapons program at the Laboratory. He has also held the position of deputy associate director for Military Applications, responsible for providing assessments of the utility of weapons systems and of the impact of arms control agreements as well as for developing nuclear and advanced conventional weapons.

His research experience includes applied optics, nuclear chemistry, electromagnetics, plasma physics, and weapons effects. An area of particular interest to Shotts is nuclear defense policy.

Shotts is a member of the American Physical Society, where he was recently selected to serve on the Panel on Public Affairs, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as a scientific adviser to the DOE Office of Defense Programs, as a technical adviser to the Nuclear Weapons Council Standing and Safety Committee, and as a member of the Navy Steering Task Group. In 1990, he received the E.O. Lawrence Award for National Security.

Shotts holds a B.A. degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University.

Prosnitz is returning to the Laboratory after serving three years as the first-ever chief science adviser to the Department of Justice. Prior to that position, Prosnitz worked in the NAI directorate, where he was instrumental in building world-class technical competencies required to accomplish NAI’s national security missions. He has served on the Nonproliferation and National Security Science Council, as deputy program leader for Advanced Applications, and as deputy associate director and Beam Research Program leader.

His technical contributions to the development of free-electron lasers and scientific leadership spanning fundamental physics research to national security and law enforcement technologies have earned him the distinction of Fellow of the American Physical Society. He also is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Prosnitz received his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of technology, and his B.A. in physics from Yale University.

Vantine is currently division leader for Counterterrorism and Incident Response (R Division) in the NAI directorate.

During his Laboratory career, Vantine has held senior positions in both the Defense and Nuclear Technologies Directorate and NAI. He has had extensive interactions with the Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST). His research interests have focused on hydrodynamics, material properties, and inertial confinement fusion. His technical training is in physics; he received his B.S. from Villanova University and his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national security laboratory, with a mission to ensure national security and apply science and technology to the important issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Laboratory news releases and photos are also available electronically on the World Wide Web of the Internet at URL http://www.llnl.gov/PAO and on UC Newswire.