Thomas Zacharia, who helped the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnership achieve world leadership in supercomputing, is leaving his post as deputy director for science and technology at the lab to head research efforts for the Qatar Foundation, lab director Thom Mason announced Wednesday.
Zacharia has been deputy director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) since 2009 after serving as associate director for computing and computational sciences at ORNL and UT vice president for science and technology. Through UT-Battelle, the University is co-manager of ORNL for the Department of Energy. Zacharia has held a joint appointment at ORNL and at UT as professor of electrical engineering and computer science. He began working at ORNL in 1987 as a postdoctoral researcher in metals and ceramics.
He will report to his new job as executive vice president of research and development of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development on Sept. 1. Jim Roberto, director of partnerships, will oversee science and technology on an interim basis.
“With Thomas’ leadership, the UT-Oak Ridge partnership has been strengthened, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory has become a gleaming model and champion for open science and technology, rising to meet today’s challenges with expertise and resources unique in our nation,” said David Millhorn, UT executive vice president and vice president for research.
Mason thanked Zacharia for numerous contributions over a long and distinguished career.
“Our scientific computing capabilities, which are now well-integrated to support all of our mission areas, are clearly a manifestation of his contributions. In his role as Deputy for S&T, he has worked to better
integrate our strengths in neutrons, computing, nuclear, and materials to advance our missions in scientific discovery, clean energy, and global security,” Mason said.
Zacharia led a proposal by UT and ORNL for a landmark $65 million award from the National Science Foundation in 2008 to build one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, Kraken. It is the largest research grant in the University’s history and largest NSF grant in the state. ORNL also is home to Jaguar, now renamed Titan, which is undergoing an upgrade that will increase its power to be the fastest in the world.
Tags: Oak Ridge National Laboratory