Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering,
1974
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Master of Science, Mechanical Engineering, 1976
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
PhD, Thermal-Fluid Science/Mechanical Engineering, 1979
In his position as Laboratory Director of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Dr. Todd Wright manages nearly 900 research scientists, engineers and technical personnel putting science to work as the nation’s newest National Laboratory.
SRNL is a world-renowned organization, performing basic and applied research and development, technology transfer, industrial and university partnerships and economic development activities. SRNL has successfully delivered technology to customers in 27 states and 27 countries or border crossings. Dr. Wright has served as Laboratory Director since 2003, building the organization’s research efforts in the areas of Energy Security, National and Homeland Security, and Environmental Protection and Cleanup.
Dr. Wright has more than 25 years of leadership experience in industrial and nuclear research and development. His assignment as Laboratory Director marked a return to the Savannah River Site following a two-year assignment in Hanford, Washington, as Manager of Research and Technology for the Hanford River Protection Waste Treatment Plant (WTP). While there, he successfully established the research and technology process to close the key technology risks for WTP, the largest current construction project in the United States.
Among his previous SRS assignments, Dr. Wright served as the SRNL Deputy Manager from 1996-2001, with responsibility for the laboratory’s day-to-day research activities. His accomplishments included the implementation of “Conduct of R&D,” an Integrated Safety Management program for the research environment. This program has helped to sustain SRNL’s safety record, the best safety record of all of the Department of Energy’s laboratories. Working with local community officials, Dr. Wright was also instrumental in acquiring new laboratory space, including construction of a modern facility adjacent to the SRS site at a significant cost saving for DOE.
Under Dr. Wright’s leadership, SRNL has continued to add to its customer base, working not only for its traditional Department of Energy clients but also performing research in conjunction with organizations such as Toyota, General Motors, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI, and with universities such as University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University, Medical College of Georgia, Syracuse University, and Georgia Tech.
After receiving his PhD from Virginia Tech, Dr. Wright began his professional career at the Corporate Research Center for Owens Corning. He then transferred to the DuPont Company where he has worked in all areas of the nuclear fuel cycle, including high level waste operations, chemical process technology, reactor fuel development and remote systems development. He is the author of a number of scientific papers and publications, and holds a patent that has been adopted by every slurry fed melter in radioactive service in the U.S.
Dr. Wright serves on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Alliance, the Board of Directors for the Augusta, Georgia, Chamber of Commerce, the Life Sciences Business Development Center Board of Advisors for the Medical College of Georgia, and the Research Committee for the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness. Dr. Wright was the 2005 recipient of the Washington Group International Corporate Lion Award, which is the Corporation’s highest award, in recognition of new business development.
He and his wife, Colleen, live in Augusta, Georgia. They have three grown children.
