The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“IN RECOGNITION OF HERMANN A. GRUNDER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H1947-H1948 on April 13, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN RECOGNITION OF HERMANN A. GRUNDER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man whose spirit and dedication to the world of science inspired him to give more than four decades of tireless service to the Nation as a scientist, administrator and a leader.
This week Dr. Hermann A. Grunder will retire as Director of Argonne National Laboratory, a leading Department of Energy science laboratory that I am proud to say is located in my congressional district in Illinois. I have had the privilege of working closely with Dr. Grunder over the course of the last 5 years during his tenure at Argonne, and so I speak with personal knowledge and affection when I say that Hermann has left an indelible stamp on Argonne, the quality of life in my district, the DOE complex and the Nation.
There is no doubt that he has created a positive and lasting legacy, both nationally and internationally, and I would like to take this time to pay tribute to his many achievements and wish him well on the occasion of his retirement.
Dr. Grunder first entered the DOE system in 1959 at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California. After a short break to complete his Ph.D at the University of Basel in Switzerland, he returned to Berkeley as a physicist in 1964 and has served the Nation ever since. At Berkeley, his scientific excellence, vision and leadership earned him executive positions of increasing responsibility.
In 1985, he left Berkeley to become the first Director of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator facility in Virginia, which he helped to build from the ground up literally. Today, the Jefferson lab is one of the Nation's leading accelerator laboratories.
In 2000, Dr. Grunder became Director of Argonne. The first thing I noticed when I met Hermann was his energy and enthusiasm for science. It is infectious. As a long-time member of the Committee on Science and chairman of its Subcommittee on Energy, I have had the good fortune of meeting many of the Nation's most talented scientists; and I can say without a doubt that Hermann's passion for science and his dedication to DOE's system of national laboratories stands out among the crowd.
As Argonne's 10th Director, Dr. Grunder strengthened the laboratory by renewing senior management at the highest level and grooming the laboratory's next generation of leaders. Through his active efforts to encourage strong research ties between Argonne and regional universities and Fermilab, Dr. Grunder greatly enhanced the Midwest's reputation as a world center of advanced scientific research and development. These collaborations are expected to trigger new scientific, technological and economic benefits for Illinois and the Nation, while providing students from Illinois and around the world with a greater role in research at Argonne.
While at Argonne, Dr. Grunder emerged as an international advocate for safe, proliferation-free nuclear energy, a strong steward of DOE's unique user facilities at our national labs, and a keen supporter of biosciences and technology's role in homeland security.
Under his leadership, Argonne reviewed ongoing research in the aftermath of September 11 and identified many potential ways this research could improve our homeland security. Since then, Argonne has contributed to hundreds of research initiatives designed to anticipate, detect and counter terrorist acts.
It came as no surprise in 2004 when Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham chose to honor Dr. Grunder's career with the DOE laboratory system by presenting him with the Secretary of Energy's Gold Award in recognition of his tireless engagement on issues of national importance, including nuclear energy, national security and international user facilities.
The DOE and the Office of Science recognized how extremely lucky they were to have a true champion like Dr. Grunder on their team for so long; and we in Illinois were very, very lucky to have had such an outstanding professional at the helm of one of our two outstanding labs for the last 5 years.
Mr. Speaker, Dr. Hermann Grunder has contributed greatly to the DOE laboratory complex, my district, and the State of Illinois and our Nation. His commitment and industrious efforts as a public servant serve as an inspiration to us all. I know that his presence at Argonne will be greatly missed, but I am confident that with his abundant energy and zeal for science he will continue to do great things in the scientific community for years to come.
Today I congratulate Dr. Grunder on his retirement and wish him all the best in his many future endeavors.
____________________
