LAHS News:
The annual meeting of the Los Alamos Historical Society is 6 p.m. May 14 in Fuller Lodge and begins with the “Experience Auction” fundraiser, pizza and ice cream party, followed by a business meeting at 6:45 p.m. and lecture at 7:30 p.m. by Robert Kuckuck, “Cold War Recollections: A Livermore Underground Testing Perspective.”
Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Robert Kuckuck will discuss his experiences as a Cold Warrior and the nuclear testing work carried out by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during the 1970s and 80s.
About the Lecturer (from the LANL website)
Robert W. Kuckuck was appointed director of Los Alamos National Laboratory effective May 16, 2005.
Kuckuck worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for more than 35 years, holding a number of management positions including deputy director of the laboratory from 1994 to 2001.
Additional positions at LLNL included assistant program leader, Solid State Lasers from 1975 to 1977; assistant associate director for Nuclear Testing from 1977 to 1979; program leader for Treaty Verification Research from 1979 to 1981; deputy division leader (diagnostics physics) from 1979 to 1982; deputy associate director for Nuclear Design from 1982 to 1984; and, associate director for Nuclear Test and Experimental Science from 1984 to 1991. He began his career at LLNL as an experimental physicist.
From 1992 to 1994, Kuckuck was special assistant to the University for Laboratory Management. From 2001 to 2002, Kuckuck was deputy administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration, having responsibility for internal operations and organization restructuring. After leaving NNSA in December of 2002, Kuckuck was appointed senior adviser in the University of California’s Office of Laboratory Management working on laboratory oversight issues.
Kuckuck received his doctorate in applied science from the University of California, Davis, and his masters in physics from Ohio State University. He did his undergraduate work in physics at West Liberty State College. In 2003, Kuckuck received the Department of Energy Secretary’s Gold Award, DOE’s highest honor.
The award citation by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recognized Kuckuck for “superior leadership” and for “vision, dedication and commitment to excellence … that have directly resulted in the advancement of initiatives that are strengthening the nuclear security of the United States of America.”
About the Experience Auction
Rather than “just stuff,” the Los Alamos Historical Society offers historical experiences at its annual fundraising auction, from a visit to the site of Ashley Pond’s first Ranch School to a behind-the-scenes tour of the New Mexico History Museum. The auction begins at 6 p.m. and includes free pizza and ice cream.
Other auction items include: Taos ski passes, a “Spy Tour” of Santa Fe with Recoursos; Lunch at Dixie Girl with LANL Historian Alan Carr; a docent-led tour & t-shirt to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History; a stay at the St. James hotel in Cimarron and a special tour of the Waite Phillips House at Philmont; and more. All proceeds benefit the programs of the Los Alamos Historical Society.
