Dr. John C. Wagner is the director of Idaho National Laboratory and president of Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC. He is responsible for management and integration of a large, multipurpose laboratory whose mission focuses on nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and energy and environment science and technology. He manages this U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory of approximately 5,200 scientists, engineers and support staff in multiple nuclear and nonnuclear experimental facilities, with an annual budget of over $1.3 billion. Wagner began serving as INL director on Dec. 11, 2020. He has more than 20 years of experience performing research, and managing and leading research and development projects, programs and organizations. He has been at INL since 2016 and served as associate laboratory director for Nuclear Science and Technology (NS&T) since 2017. His previous roles included director of Domestic Programs in NS&T and director of the Technical Integration Office for the DOE-NE Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program at INL. Wagner initially joined INL as the chief scientist at the Materials and Fuels Complex in 2016. Wagner received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1992, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Following graduate school, Wagner joined Holtec International as a principal engineer, performing criticality safety analyses and licensing activities for spent fuel storage pools and storage and transportation casks. Wagner joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as an R&D staff member in 1999, performing research in the areas of hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods, burnup credit criticality safety, and spent nuclear fuel characterization and safety.

While at ORNL, Wagner held various technical leadership positions, including technical lead for postclosure criticality in support of DOE OCRWM’s Lead Laboratory for Repository Systems, Radiation Transport Methods Deputy Focus Area lead for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), and national technical director of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project. Wagner held various management positions, including group leader for the Criticality and Shielding Methods and Applications, Radiation Transport, and Used Fuel Systems groups. In 2014, Wagner became director of the Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division (RNSD), with responsibility for management direction and leadership to focus and integrate the seven RNSD R&D groups (Advanced Reactor Systems and Safety, Nuclear Data and Criticality Safety, Nuclear Security Modeling, Radiation Transport, Reactor Physics, Thermal Hydraulics and Irradiation Engineering, and Used Fuel Systems) and the Radiation Safety Information Computational Center. Wagner is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and recipient of the 2013 E.O. Lawrence Award. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports, and conference summaries. He was the original developer of the A3MCNP and ADVANTG codes and led the development of the CADIS and Forward-Weighted CADIS hybrid transport methods.

Dan Hopkins is VP of Applied AI & Global Public Sector at Eightfold.ai. In his current role, Dan is responsible for helping governments leverage Artificial Intelligence to unlock workforce insights and create better employment outcomes.

Prior to his role at Eightfold.ai, Dan was VP of innovation at Conga, where he was responsible for developing enterprise artificial intelligence offerings. Dan has also provided technology consulting and advisement for past US presidential campaigns, members of congress, and government agencies.

Dan has an undergraduate degree in political science, a master’s degree in information systems technology, and an MBA from Columbia University. He lives in Washington DC.

Alexandra Kelley reports on emerging technology for Nextgov/FCW. Her most recent post was covering breaking news for The Hill where she focused on a variety of quantitative subjects, including Big Tech and the economy, in addition to covering the coronavirus pandemic since late 2019. She graduated from Kenyon College in 2017.