Editing Sandia National Laboratories (section)

== Lab history ==<!-- This section is linked from [[List of Soviet agents in the United States]] -->
[[File:Sandia-Building800-1951.gif|thumb|One of Sandia's first permanent buildings (Building 800) was completed in 1949]]
Sandia National Laboratories' roots go back to [[World War II]] and the [[Manhattan Project]]. Prior to the United States formally entering the war, the [[U.S. Army]] leased land near an Albuquerque, New Mexico airport known as Oxnard Field to service transient Army and [[U.S. Navy]] aircraft. In January 1941 construction began on the Albuquerque Army Air Base, leading to establishment of the ''Bombardier School-Army Advanced Flying School'' near the end of the year. Soon thereafter it was renamed Kirtland Field, after early Army military pilot Colonel [[Roy C. Kirtland]], and in mid-1942 the Army acquired Oxnard Field. During the war years facilities were expanded further and [[Kirtland Field]] served as a major Army Air Forces training installation.

In the many months leading up to successful detonation of the first [[atomic bomb]], the [[Trinity site|Trinity]] test, and delivery of the first airborne atomic weapon, [[Project Alberta]], [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]], Director of [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos Laboratory]], and his technical advisor, Hartly Rowe, began looking for a new site convenient to Los Alamos for the continuation of weapons development{{spaced ndash}} especially its non-nuclear aspects. They felt a separate division would be best to perform these functions. Kirtland had fulfilled Los Alamos' transportation needs for both the Trinity and Alberta projects, thus, Oxnard Field was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps to the U.S. Army Service Forces Chief of Engineer District, and thereafter, assigned to the Manhattan Engineer District. In July 1945, the forerunner of Sandia Laboratory, known as "Z" Division, was established at Oxnard Field to handle future weapons development, testing, and bomb assembly for the Manhattan Engineer District. The District-directive calling for establishing a secure area and construction of "Z" Division facilities referred to this as "[[Sandia Base]]"&nbsp;, after the nearby [[Sandia Mountains]] – apparently the first official recognition of the "Sandia" name.
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Lab directors and presidents
|-
! scope=col | Name !! scope=col | Tenure
|-
| [[Laura McGill|Laura J. McGill]] || May 2025<ref name="McGill1"/><ref name="McGill2" /><br>–
|-
| James S. Peery || January 2020<ref name="Peery1"/><br>–April 2025<ref name="Peery2" />
|-
| Stephen Younger || May 2017<br> – December 2019<ref name="Younger">{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2017/01/25/director-deputy-director-of-sandia-national-labs.html |title= Director, deputy director of Sandia National Labs announced|last=Ortega |first=May |date=January 25, 2017 |website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2020-05-18}}</ref>
|-
| [[Jill Hruby|Jill M. Hruby]] || July 2015<br>–May 2017<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nti.org/about/leadership-and-staff/jill-hruby/|title=Jill Hruby &#124; Leadership & Staff &#124; About &#124; NTI|website=www.nti.org}}</ref><ref name="Hruby">{{cite web| url=https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/new_director/ | title=New Sandia director will be first woman to lead national security lab | date=2015-07-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722123200/https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/new_director/|archive-date=2015-07-22| publisher=Sandia National Laboratories}}</ref>
|-
| Paul Hommert || July 2010<br> – July 2015<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.llnl.gov/news/paul-hommert-named-director-sandia|title=Paul Hommert named director for Sandia &#124; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|website=www.llnl.gov}}</ref><ref name="Hruby" />
|-
| Thomas Hunter || April 2005<br> – July 2010<ref>{{cite web |last=Fleck |first=John |date=13 May 2010 |title=Update: Hunter to Step Down as Sandia Head |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/3530/update-hunter-to-step-down-as-sandia-head.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202222219/https://www.abqjournal.com/3530/update-hunter-to-step-down-as-sandia-head.html |archive-date=2 December 2019 |website=[[Albuquerque Journal]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[C. Paul Robinson]] || August 1995<br> – April 2005<ref>{{cite web|url=https://share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2005/other/mgt-changes.html|title=Sandia National Labs: News: Sandia Labs undergoes management changes|website=share-ng.sandia.gov}}</ref>
|-
| [[Albert Narath (born 1933)|Albert Narath]] || 1989–1995<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.aip.org/phn/11508007.html|title=Narath, Albert, 1933–|website=history.aip.org}}</ref>
|-
| [[Irwin Welber]] || February 1986<br> – March 1989<ref name="news2008"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sandia.gov/news/publications/labnews/articles/2017/20-01/welber.html|title=Sandia National Laboratories: Irwin Welber, Sandia's 9th president, passes away at 92|first=Sandia|last=Labs|date=January 19, 2017|website=Sandia Labs}}</ref>
|-
| [[George Clement Dacey|George C. Dacey]] || August 1981<br> – January 1986<ref name="news2008"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/read/18477/chapter/13|title=Read "Memorial Tributes: Volume 17" at NAP.edu|year=2013 |doi=10.17226/18477 |isbn=978-0-309-29193-4 |via=www.nap.edu}}</ref>
|-
| [[Morgan Sparks]] || October 1972<br> – July 1981<ref name="news2008"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.llnl.gov/community/retiree-and-employee-resources/in-memoriam/morgan-sparks|title=Morgan Sparks &#124; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|website=www.llnl.gov}}</ref>
|-
| John A. Hornbeck || November 1966<br> – September 1972<ref name="news2008"/>
|-
| Siegmund P. "Monk" Schwartz || September 1960<br> – October 1966<ref name="news2008">{{cite web |url=https://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/ln01-18-08/labnews01-18-08.pdf |title=Lab News |publisher=www.sandia.gov |date=January 1, 2018 |access-date=2020-05-18 |archive-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924152045/https://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/ln01-18-08/labnews01-18-08.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| [[Julius Molnar]] || October 1958<br> – August 1960<ref name="news2008"/>
|-
| [[James W. McRae]] || September 1953<br> – September 1958<ref name="news2008"/>
|-
| [[Donald A. Quarles]] || March 1952<br> – August 1953<ref name="news2008"/>
|-
| [[George Landry]] || October 1949<br> – February 1952<ref name="news2008"/>
|}

Sandia Laboratory was operated by the [[University of California]] until 1949, when President [[Harry S. Truman]] asked [[Western Electric]], a subsidiary of [[American Telephone and Telegraph]] (AT&T), to assume the operation as an "opportunity to render an exceptional service in the national interest." Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Electric, was formed on October 5, 1949, and, on November 1, 1949, took over management of the Laboratory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tech Area II: A history|url=https://www.sandia.gov/about/history/_assets/documents/UllrichTechAreaII981617.pdf|last=Ullrich|first=Rebecca|date=July 1, 1998|website=sandia.gov|publisher=Ktech Corporation|access-date=2020-05-18}}</ref> The [[United States Congress]] designated Sandia Laboratories as a National laboratory in 1979. In October 1993, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) was managed and operated by '''Sandia Corporation''', a wholly owned subsidiary of [[Lockheed Martin]]. In December 2016, it was announced that National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, under the direction of [[Honeywell International]], would take over the management of Sandia National Laboratories beginning May 1, 2017;<ref name="Younger" /><ref name="energy.gov"/> this contract remains in effect as of November 2022,<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="Younger"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sandia National Laboratories: About Sandia: Sandia's Government Owned/Contractor Operated heritage|url=https://www.sandia.gov/about/history/goco.html|website=www.sandia.gov|access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref> covering government-owned facilities in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] (SNL/NM); [[Livermore, California]] (SNL/CA); [[Tonopah, Nevada]]; [[Shoreview, Minnesota]]; and [[Kauai, Hawaii]]. SNL/NM is the headquarters and the largest laboratory, employing more than 12,000 employees, while SNL/CA is a smaller laboratory, with around 1,700 employees. Tonopah and Kauai are occupied on a "campaign" basis, as test schedules dictate. The lab also managed the DOE/SNL [[Scaled Wind Farm Technology Facility|Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) Facility]] in [[Lubbock, Texas]].

Sandia led a project that studied how to decontaminate a subway system in the event of a biological weapons attack (such as [[anthrax]]). As of September 2017, the process to decontaminate subways in such an event is "virtually ready to implement," said a lead Sandia engineer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://homelandprepnews.com/stories/24445-plan-ready-decontaminate-subways-event-biological-attack/|title=Plan ready to decontaminate subways in the event of a biological attack|last=Carey|first=Liz|date=2017-09-28|work=Homeland Preparedness News|access-date=2017-10-11|language=en-US}}</ref>

Sandia's integration with its local community includes a program through the Department of Energy's Tribal Energy program to deliver alternative renewable power to remote Navajo communities, spearheaded by senior engineer [[Sandra Begay]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sandia National Laboratories: News Releases : 'Iconic' Sandia researcher wins Indigenous Excellence Award|url=https://share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/indigenous_excellence/|access-date=2021-04-09|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=PEOPLE – All Together|url=https://alltogether.swe.org/2020/10/people-6/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=alltogether.swe.org|date=October 27, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref>