NSRI Names Research Director

OMAHA - The Board of Directors of the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska have appointed Dr. William Charlton as the first Research Director, a new and paramount position to furthering research solutions for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction at the University of Nebraska, for U.S. Strategic Command, the Department of Defense and the nation.

Dr. Charlton was selected for the Research Director position from among several finalists. A national search was conducted by a selection committee whose members represented key university constituencies including the National Strategic Research Institute, the NSRI Board of Directors, and the University of Nebraska. He will join the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska on June 1, 2015.

Dr. Charlton has served as faculty member in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU) since 2003. He was also the founding Director of the Nuclear Security Science & Policy Institute at TAMU since 2006. An expert in the area of nuclear nonproliferation research and education, Dr. Charlton also served as an Assistant Professor in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program at the University of Texas at Austin from 2000-2003. From 1998-2000, Dr. Charlton was a Technical Staff Member in the Nonproliferation and International Security Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

He remains heavily involved with many of the National Laboratories including: consultation on nuclear material safeguards and national security projects, providing graduate and undergraduate students for summer programs and new hires, collaborating with laboratory staff on various funded research projects, and helping to provide continuing education opportunities for laboratory employees. He teaches courses which study the technical aspects of nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and nuclear security as well as fundamentals of nuclear engineering.

Dr. Charlton earned a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University. Among his many awards, Dr. Charlton was named the George Armistead Jr. '23 Faculty Fellow at TAMU in 2005, was awarded the Dwight Look College of Engineering Faculty Fellow in 2007, was recognized as the Advisor of the Year by the TAMU Division of Student Affairs in 2009, earned the Special Service Award from the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management in 2010, and was named the Barbara and Ralph Cox ’53 Faculty Fellow for the TAMU College of Engineering in 2013. He has over 200 technical publications in referred journals and conference proceedings.

Lt. Gen. (Ret) Bob Hinson, Executive Director of the NSRI states that Dr. Charlton “was selected by the search committee because we saw in him the potential to grow our research across our combating weapons of mass destruction mission portfolio and make an impact not only to the University of Nebraska, but to USSTRATCOM, the Department of Defense, other Department /Agency sponsors and the nation.”

Dr. Charlton is recognized as one of the leaders in the technical area of nuclear nonproliferation education and research. “He has a strong vision for nuclear research at the National Strategic Research Institute and the experience to initiate a sustainable impact across the globe, through increased research initiatives focused on solving crucial challenges that span national borders. The NSRI must remain a high-performing University Affiliated Research Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction, in an environment where our core competencies are challenged by an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. Dr. Charlton will help us establish our credentials as a nationally recognized nuclear research institute to ensure the United States’ preparedness in response to threats to our national security”, said Lt. Gen. (Ret) Bob Hinson.

Charlton said “I am honored to have been selected to serve as the Research Director for Nuclear Programs at the National Strategic Research Institute. As the newest UARC, the NSRI boasts limitless potential and is positioned for an even stronger future as a leader in CWMD research programs. I look forward to working with the University of Nebraska to expedite nuclear research as well as exploit the University of Nebraska and other university capabilities in delivering research and potential game changing solutions to the toughest CWMD mission problems and requirements.”

About NSRI
Founded in 2012, the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska is the only University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) in the country dedicated to delivering solutions for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) to U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) and across other federal agencies. NSRI provides research and development for the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental agencies in multiple mission-critical competency areas — including development of medical countermeasures to WMD; nuclear detection and forensics; consequence management; chemical and biological weapons detection; and space, cyber, and telecom law. Learn more at nsri.nebraska.edu.