Principal Associate Director - Operations and Business

Carl Beard
Principal Associate Director for Operations and Business Services

As Principal Associate Director for Operations and Business Services, Beard is responsible for the Laboratory’s nuclear high-hazard operations; business services; maintenance; infrastructure planning; the Environment, Safety, and Health directorate; safeguards and security; and institutional quality.  

Beard joined the Lab in 2006 and the executive leadership team in 2011.  

From 2006-2011, he served as the Associate Director for Plutonium Science and Manufacturing, which is responsible for the production of nuclear weapon components and other national security-related products and services.

Key Facts:

• Before joining LANL, Beard was the Engineering Division Manager at the BWXT-Pantex Plant, where he was responsible for engineering support for all weapons assembly and disassembly operations.   
• Beard’s Pantex experience also included managing the Applied Technology Division, which is responsible for high explosive manufacturing and testing operations.
• Beard served as Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory (a 1.1 MW TRIGA nuclear reactor) at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin.   
• Before employment at UT, Beard worked at LANL as a Project Manager and Technical Staff Member, working on a variety of nuclear materials-related activities.
• Carl has a B.S., M.S., and PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University.