Sandia Labs names new director

Sandia National Laboratories has named James S. Peery the organization’s director, noting he will succeed Stephen Younger, who is slated to retire at the end of this year.

“The Board of Managers unanimously selected James following a nationwide search that included a review of more than 80 candidates,” said Stevan Slijepcevic, chair of the National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC Board of Managers and president of Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Solutions. “James rose as our clear choice because of his familiarity with the DOE/NNSA mission, knowledge of Sandia, vast national laboratory leadership experience and deep knowledge of nuclear weapons, cybersecurity, computational science, high performance computing and systems engineering.”

Peery said he honored to assume his new role, which will begin Jan. 1, 2020.

“Since its beginning in 1949, Sandia National Laboratories has been led by amazing, talented and dedicated people,” said Peery, the 16th Laboratories Director in Sandia’s 70-year history. “I am humbled to become Laboratories Director at a time when Sandia is experiencing a significant increase in work supporting our nation’s nuclear deterrent. We will continue Sandia’s traditions of delivering on our national security missions, supporting our communities, and developing our workforce.”

Perry currently serves as associate Laboratory Director of National Security Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.