Charles McMillan
Dr. Charles F. McMillan was the 10th Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and President of Los Alamos National Security, LLC from June 2011 to December 2017.
During his appointment, McMillan guided Los Alamos through continuing high levels of mission execution. He signed seven annual assessment reports to the President and Congress evaluating the Los Alamos-designed weapons in the stockpile. Under McMillan’s leadership, the Laboratory continued to innovate new techniques and tools to ensure that nation’s deterrent remained safe, reliable, and effective. In retirement, McMillan continues to serve the national security enterprise on various boards and review committees.
Prior to becoming Laboratory Director, McMillan served as the Principal Associate Director for Weapons Programs. He was responsible for the science, technology, engineering, and infrastructure enabling the Laboratory to fulfill its nuclear deterrent mission. McMillan directed research that supported the technical analysis necessary to ensure stockpile safety, security, and effectiveness. This included small scale materials experiments through fully integrated hydrotests that provided essential modeling and simulation data necessary for validation in the absence of full-scale nuclear testing.
McMillan has more than 30 years of scientific and leadership experience in weapons science, stockpile certification, experimental physics, and computational science. He began his career as an experimental physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1983, where he held a variety of research and management positions for two decades.
He holds a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Washington Adventist University. He has earned two DOE Awards of Excellence for his work in developing an innovative holographic tool that enhanced the ability of scientists to predict nuclear performance. He is a frequent speaker on the vital role of national laboratories for the nation, and the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in cultivating the talent necessary to sustaining that role in the future.