Ellen Tauscher will replace Norman Pattiz as the chair of the University of California Board of Regents’ national laboratories subcommittee, the board said Thursday.
Tauscher is a former California congresswoman. Pattiz is the founder of radio giant Westwood One. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Tauscher to the board in June. Pattiz was originally appointed by then-Gov. Gray Davis (D) in 2001. The university’s fiscal year begins July 1.
The University of California’s bylaws permit a regent to serve as a committee chair for a maximum of four consecutive one-year terms. The lab committee makes official recommendations for national laboratory management and is empowered to decide how the university allocates fees it earns for lab management.
The University of California is the lead partner on Los Alamos National Security and Lawrence Livermore National Security: the Energy Department’s prime contractors for the Los Alamos and Livermore national laboratories. Both companies include industry partners Bechtel, BWX Technologies, and AECOM.
DOE is recompeting the Los Alamos contract following a series of nuclear-safety lapses at the northern New Mexico lab. The final solicitation is expected this month or next. At last week’s Board of Regents meeting, Pattiz said the university planned to bid on the follow-on contract, but with a different set of industry partners from those on Los Alamos National Security.
