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“HONORING DR. BRUCE TAUCHER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1308-E1309 on July 22, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING DR. BRUCE TAUCHER
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HON. ELLEN O. TAUSCHER
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 22, 2002
Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, as we mark the end of Dr. C. Bruce Tarter's tenure as the Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate his career and honor his accomplishments. During his more than 30 years with Livermore Laboratory he has served in capacities that truly span the broadest possible range, beginning with a summer internship as a graduate student, and culminating with his appointment as Director. During his tenure at the lab, Dr. Tarter has been steadfast in his commitment to apply science and technology to the important problems of our time, as well as establishing strong institutional ties with the University of California.
Dr. Tarter received his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. His formal career with Livermore lab began in 1967 as a staff member in the Theoretical Physics Division, where he was widely recognized as a future leader. Within the decade he was promoted to head of Theoretical Physics, where he advanced his belief that Livermore should use world-
class science and technology of our national priorities.
It was also during this time that Dr. Tarter became a leader in solidifying the Livermore Laboratory and University of California relationship. Throughout the 1980s Dr. Tarter was a major player in the creation of the Laboratory Institutes, notably the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, and the Institute for Scientific Computing Research. These institutes, created under Director Roger Batzel, have become important tools for the laboratory interacting with the university community.
To guarantee the laboratory ability to use science and technology to solve the major problems of our day, Dr. Tarter has long been a champion of building the world's best supercomputers at Livermore. He has worked to ensure that these supercomputers are used for cutting-
edge fundamental supercomputing, as well as critical national security computing.
His leadership in these areas and others propelled him to the ranks of senior management in 1989, as associate director physics, during the waning days of the Cold War. Realizing that the political climate demanded a sharpened focus on weapons and space-age technology, he expanded the position to include weapons physics and space technology, leading to the Clementine mission to the moon. He also headed a broadly based environmental program in global climate and other environmental research.
In addition to his work at Livermore Laboratory, Dr. Tarter has served in a number of other outside professional capacities. These include a 6-year-period with the Army Science Board; service as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California at Davis; and membership on the California Council on Science and Technology, the University of California President's Engineering Advisory Council, the Laboratory Operations Board, Pacific Council on International Policy, Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and received the Roosevelt Gold Medal Award for Science in November 1998.
Since being named director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1994, Dr. Tarter has remained dedicated to the themes developed throughout his career and has continued to adapt to changes in both science and the world at large. Under his stewardship the laboratory has been a principal contributor to the Department of Energy's programs to maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without testing underground testing and to reduce the international dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.
Commenting on the Laboratory's mission, Dr. Tarter has said that these efforts have ``set the base for major national security program accomplishments in the future.'' While Dr. Tarter is stepping down as director of Livermore Lab, and his official leadership will be missed, we are grateful that he will remain on staff at Livermore, no doubt continuing to lead in his field. Always forward-looking and full of boundless energy, Bruce would never want me to speculate about his legacy, and I don't need to--his record speaks for itself. Congratulations, Bruce, and on behalf of my colleagues and the American people, thank you.
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