Allison Campbell, Lou Terminello chosen after national searches

Allison Campbell and Louis Terminello have been selected as the inaugural associate laboratory directors of two recently created science directorates at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Campbell, a chemist, will head the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, and Terminello, also a chemist, will head the Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate. Both have been serving in acting roles leading their respective organizations since Oct. 1, when the laboratory created a new structure to increase the impact of its science mission.

The selections are the result of national searches during which PNNL sought the best candidates to lead the two major thrusts of the laboratory's science mission. Together, Campbell and Terminello are responsible for programs of the Department of Energy's Office of Science — the largest single supporter of research staff at PNNL — working to deliver scientific innovation and impact to address some of the most challenging problems in science today.

With Campbell's leadership, EBSD scientists work toward discoveries in bioenergy, the restoration of our environment, climate science, microbiology, and biomedical science. With Terminello's leadership, PCSD scientists explore areas including materials science, computational science, chemistry, particle physics and fusion energy.

"The new directorates enable us to better align collaboration and resources to pursue our science vision of understanding, predicting and controlling the behavior of complex adaptive systems, such as those found in biology and chemistry," said Steven Ashby, PNNL director. "Both Allison and Lou stood out in their abilities to help achieve that vision."

The pair has extensive experience working closely with organizations that fund PNNL and its researchers — recognizing scientific problems of national importance early on, forming collaborations within PNNL and beyond to tackle those challenges, and recruiting the best scientific talent to make discoveries in the laboratory.

Campbell began her career at PNNL in 1990 as a postdoctoral fellow in the materials science department. She became a full-time staff scientist in 1992 and later the technical group leader for materials synthesis and modification. In 2005 she became director of EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science user facility at PNNL; under her leadership, scientists from around the world sought out EMSL to pursue new science for environmental and energy applications. She has strengthened the collaboration between EMSL and other user facilities, notably the Joint Genome Institute, creating ways for researchers to more easily integrate the capabilities of multiple user facilities into their research.

As a scientist, she invented a process for coating biomedical bone implants with biocompatible and anti-infection coatings in the hopes of improving recovery time for patients and extending the life of joints. That work led to six U.S. patents, an R&D 100 award, and a Federal Laboratory Consortium award for excellence in technology transfer.

Recently, Campbell became president-elect of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. She also is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and a member of the National Academies Chemical Sciences Roundtable. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in chemistry from State University of New York at Buffalo.

Terminello has served in a series of leadership roles in several research areas since joining PNNL in 2009. He served as chief scientist for fundamental and computational sciences, where he was responsible for setting and implementing a strategic vision to build PNNL's fundamental science capabilities. There he led initiatives in chemical imaging and dynamic systems that have greatly strengthened the lab's leadership in chemical imaging. He has also been chief science and technology officer for PNNL's National Security Directorate, as well as chair of the laboratory's Science and Technology Committee, which helps develop and guide the lab's integrated science and technology strategy and priorities.

Before joining PNNL, Terminello held several leadership positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, including division leader for materials science and technology and deputy associate director for programs in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate.

Terminello earned his bachelor of science degree in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Much of his scientific career has focused on the nexus of chemistry, physics, and materials science and technology. He has produced more than 160 publications on synchrotron radiation studies of nanostructured and interfacial materials, has earned several patents, and has served on numerous scientific advisory and review committees. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and was recently named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.