Dr. Keane served as head of the inertial confinement fusion program at the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration for many years. He is currently at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Willis served many years as a division director in the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences. He retired in 2005.

Dr. Keane's award is "in recognition of and appreciation for your managerial contributions to the inertial confinement fusion technical program achievements that occurred during and beyond your tenure at the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy."

Dr. Willis's award is "in recognition of and appreciation for your managerial contributions to the magnetic confinement fusion technical program achievements that occurred during and beyond your tenure at the U. S. Department of Energy."

Christopher J. Keane

Dr. Keane put his scientific career on hold, even though he was a leading research scientist in x-ray laser research, at a time when scientific leadership was needed at DOE. Under his able guidance, inertial fusion saw the greatest changes since the founding of the program, including initiation of the National Ignition Facility Project, conclusion of a key bi-national agreement with the French CEA, an effort to reclaim U.S. leadership in Petawatt laser research, construction of OMEGA EP, and joint OFES and ICF efforts in high-energy density physics. Chris also supported pulsed power activities at Sandia National Laboratories. He was the federal manager who oversaw the beginning of the National Ignition Campaign, the formal program to integrate national and international efforts to drive for ignition on the NIF. Chris also provided the leadership and insight that increased the scientific collaborative efforts of US ICF research internationally and across departmental lines in the US.

John Willis

From 1975 until his retirement in 2005, Dr. Willis held a series of positions in the DOE's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, with increasing levels of responsibility. In every position, he took a broad view of what was good for the fusion program, as a whole, and for the ultimate success of fusion energy. In the last position he held at DOE, he was responsible for managing the bulk of U.S. research on fusion energy sciences, from theory and computation to experiments on large facilities, from the smallest university grants to programs in enabling technologies. Throughout, John maintained knowledge of the issues and the people involved in his programs. Over the years, as the fusion program experienced large disruptions due to budget reductions and policy shifts, John worked within the office and with the leaders in the field to guide the program through change with minimum negative impact on the science and the scientists. When fusion researchers ran into difficulties, they invariably sought out John, who was always there to help find a viable path forward. His probing technical questions were insightful and always constructive, with the goal of helping people in the field make their best case. John Willis was a direct contributor to tremendous technical achievements in the fusion program that occurred during and beyond his tenure at DOE. that occurred during and beyond his tenure at DOE.

Chris can be reached at keane1@llnl.gov

John can be reached at macjohn@mac.com