Kim Budil started this week in her new job as director of weapons complex and integration at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where her responsibilities will include overseeing the Department of Energy facility’s moderniztion of the nuclear warhead for the Air Force’s next-generation air-launched cruise missile.
Monday was Budil’s first day in her new role, a lab spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The weapons design lab announced the hire in January.
Budil was most recently vice president for national laboratories at the University of California: a senior partner on the prime management contractors for both Livermore and its older competitor within the nuclear security enterprise, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Budil had not appointed a deputy at deadline Tuesday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, the lab spokesperson said. Livermore’s previous associate director for weapons complex and integration, Michael Dunning, retired in January after almost 30 years at the lab.
Meanwhile, the order of succession at the University of California’s Office of National Laboratories remains murky. Craig Leasure is the associate vice president for national laboratories: the No. 2 spot within the organization. Leasure came to the university in October after a nearly 30-year stint at Los Alamos. There, he was most recently principal associate director for operations and business.
In January, the university said it would appoint an interim labs vice president before starting a national search for a permanent replacement. A university spokesperson on Tuesday declined to comment about whether the system had appointed an interim vice president.
