Jill Hruby was sworn in this week as the sixth administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, she wrote in a Twitter post on the official government account for the nuclear-weapons agency’s leader.
Today, surrounded by my family, I was sworn in as #NNSA Administrator by @SecGranholm. Leading the dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to advance our Nation’s #nuclear #security missions is a tremendous privilege. pic.twitter.com/jPZZcbBaRR
— NNSA Administrator (@NNSAHruby) July 26, 2021
One of the first official stops for Hruby, who lived in New Mexico and was sworn into service there, was the NNSA’s John A. Gordon office complex in Albuquerque at the Kirtland Air Force Base. The building, essentially the western branch of NNSA headquarters, houses some 1,200 people.
I had the opportunity to tour #NNSA‘s new John A. Gordon #Albuquerque Complex today and view the great progress our construction team has made. Providing our workforce with modern and #energyefficient office space in the near future is an exciting achievement. pic.twitter.com/aUjhKEwVoK
— NNSA Administrator (@NNSAHruby) July 27, 2021
Hruby replaces acting administrator Charlie Verdon, the full-time deputy administrator for defense programs confirmed by the Senate during the Donald Trump administration. Verdon replaced William Bookless as acting administrator after then-Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette demanded the resignation of the fifth full-time administrator of the agency, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty.
Verdon was still listed on the NNSA’s organization chart at deadline as the head of NNSA defense programs at headquarters.
The Senate confirmed Hruby on Thursday.
Hruby is the former director of the Sandia National Laboratories. She rose through the ranks over a 30-plus-year career to become director of the nuclear-weapons-engineering labs-network. She retired in 2017 and spent a few years in non-government groups, where she did the occasional public speaking for nuke watchers in Washington.
Hruby has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the second woman to lead the agency in its 20-year history and the first former labs director to hold the post.
