ASME Fellows are named to key positions at NRC and NSF

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

Two members of ASME have been named to leadership positions at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Science Foundation.

On March 31, President George W. Bush announced his intention to designate Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Nils J. Diaz as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The next day, the National Science Foundation selected John A. Brighton, the provost of National-Louis University, as the new leader of the NSF Directorate for Engineering. He is an ASME Fellow.

Nils J. Diaz

 

 

Diaz, also an ASME Fellow, will replace the current chairman, Richard Meserve, who is leaving the NRC to become president of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. The president's designation of Diaz to serve as chairman does not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Diaz, a longtime ASME member, is a member of ASME's Nuclear Engineering and Advanced Energy Systems Divisions.

Prior to his Senate confirmation as an NRC commissioner in September 2001, Diaz was professor of nuclear engineering sciences at the University of Florida, director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power Institute — a national consortium of industries, universities and national laboratories — and president and principal engineer of Florida Nuclear Associates Inc.

Diaz holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Villanova, Havana; an M.S. in nuclear engineering and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering sciences from the University of Florida.

He has received formal training and practice in Nuclear Medicine and Health Physics and was licensed as a senior reactor operator for 12 years by the NRC.

Diaz has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers on reactor kinetics and safety, instrumentation and control, imaging and non-destructive examination, advanced reactor concepts, nuclear space power and propulsion, and nuclear fuels.

In addition to his membership in ASME, Diaz is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As the head of NSF's Directorate for Engineering, Brighton will manage a budget of roughly $540 million. He will assume the post in May, replacing Esin Gulari, a professor on leave from Wayne State University's College of Engineering in Detroit.

John A. Brighton

 

 

NSF's Directorate for Engineering helps to ensure that the United States maintains its preeminence across the frontiers of science and engineering, leading to fundamental discoveries, technological innovation and economic growth.

Brighton previously served from 1991 to 1999 as provost and university professor at Pennsylvania State University, where he was also dean of the College of Engineering.

Prior to his leadership at Penn State, Brighton held faculty positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, CarnegieMellon University and Purdue University.

Regarded as one of the top academic administrators in the United States, Brighton is also a well-known researcher who has authored dozens of research papers and holds numerous patents.

He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, and holds bachelor and master of science degrees.

Brighton is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education. He previously served on the Advisory Committee for NSF's engineering directorate, and also as chairman, Council of Deans, Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence in Education and Leadership.

 

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