Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC, has announced the appointment of Dr. Johney Green Jr. as the next Laboratory Director at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).
Previously, he served as the associate laboratory director for mechanical and thermal engineering sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
In 2004, Green was recognized as one of America's 50 Most Influential Research Scientists, as noted in the September issue of a publication by Career Communications Group. He received this honor for his contributions to automotive research and his role as a minority scientist and role model for students and others.
Throughout his career, Green has earned multiple awards and holds U.S. patents in combustion science. He has an h-index of 34 and over 4,500 citations. He leads or co-authors several technical publications and has delivered numerous invited keynote and plenary presentations.
In 2000, while working as a development engineer in the Engineering Technology Division at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Green was honored with the BEYA for Outstanding GEM Alumnus. GEM stands for the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science.
SRNL is a multi-program national laboratory with an annual operating budget of approximately $400 million. It is recognized as a leading research and development institution for the Offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management at the Department of Energy, as well as for the weapons and nonproliferation programs of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
In 2016, Dr. Green joined NREL after a 21-year career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Among his significant achievements at NREL, he transformed the lab's wind site into the Flatirons Campus, evolving it from a single-program wind research facility into a multiprogram research campus.
Before his tenure at NREL, Dr. Green held various leadership positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he directed the Energy and Transportation Science Division and served as the group leader for fuels, engines, and emissions research.
Dr. Green joined ORNL in 1995 and spent a year as a visiting researcher at Ford's Scientific Research Laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan.
He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Memphis in 1992, a master's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech.
At NREL, Dr. Green oversaw diverse research programs, including transportation, buildings, wind, water, geothermal, advanced manufacturing, concentrating solar power, and Arctic research.
These programs collectively have a portfolio exceeding $300 million and involve about 750 staff members.
Under his leadership, the directorate conducts research and development to foster technological innovations in energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, and renewable power.