Newswise — Bradley Wallin has been named Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) principal associate director (PAD) for Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI), Lab Director Kimberly Budil announced today.

In this role, Wallin will lead the Laboratory's nuclear weapons program in its responsibilities to support U.S. strategic deterrence by assuring the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and by providing the science, technology and engineering capabilities and experts required to enable and advance this essential responsibility.

“Brad brings demonstrated vision and leadership to this critical role,” Budil said. “I look forward to working closely with him as a member of my senior management team.”

Wallin brings extensive technical experience in nuclear weapons and national security science and holds a Ph.D. in physics, an M.C.S. in computer science and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.Sc. in engineering physics from the Colorado School of Mines.

He has worked at LLNL for more than 20 years and has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility across the weapons program including nuclear weapons design code development, high-performance computing, dynamic material properties, subcritical experiments, startup and management of nuclear facilities and high-energy-density experiments.

Most recently, Wallin served as the program director for Weapon Physics and Design, leading physics design, assessment and certification efforts for the enduring LLNL systems (W80, B83, W87), the W80-4 Life Extension Program and the W87-1 Modification program, as well as the research and technology to advance understanding of weapon physics and create a more responsive nuclear security enterprise. In prior roles, he was the program manager for Nuclear Threat Reduction in the Global Security Directorate and served as technical adviser to the Office of Defense Science at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Wallin replaces Des Pilkington, who served as acting WCI PAD while the search was conducted. “Des has played a critical role in WCI over many years, as a deep technical expert and mentor, a visionary as we created the strategy for nuclear deterrence in the coming decades and a steadfast leader during a time of extraordinary growth and change,” Budil said. “His ongoing contributions as the principal deputy PAD for WCI will be essential to our continued success.”