151 The UT - Oak Ridge Partnership Leading to Things Nuclear

Computers, Science, Tech | Registration opens 8/5/25 9:00 AM EDT

701 Briarcliff Avenue Oak Ridge, TN 37830 United States
F-110
Wednesday, October 1, 2025-Wednesday, November 5, 2025
4:00 PM-5:10 PM EDT on Wed

151 The UT - Oak Ridge Partnership Leading to Things Nuclear

Computers, Science, Tech | Registration opens 8/5/25 9:00 AM EDT

This class will cover the history of the UT-ORNL partnership focused on the evolution of nuclear topics over these last 80 years – nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear reactors, and nuclear fusion. Included will be discussion of the people who made all of this happen and how these fields developed on the local and national scenes. The last lecture will discuss the statewide developments related to nuclear energy in the last 5 years.


Lee Riedinger

Lee Riedinger is an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Tennessee. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Riedinger had a long career at the University of Tennessee where he held many administrative leadership positions. In 1999 he was one of the leaders of the successful UT effort to choose a partner (Battelle) and bid on the ORNL management contract. From 2000 to 2006 he served in different roles at ORNL. Upon his return to UT in 2006, he led various efforts to develop greater focus on energy teaching and research at UT. In 2010 he was appointed to be the first director of the UT-ORNL Bredesen Center, the academic home of new doctoral programs in energy science and engineering and in data science and engineering, both done jointly with ORNL. He has written a book on the long history of the partnership between UT and Oak Ridge: Critical Connections: The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge from the Dawn of the Atomic Age to the Present, published by the UT Press in 2024.