Dr. Charles P. Verdon serves as the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs for the NNSA and is responsible for the management and operations of NNSA in support of President Biden’s nuclear security agenda. In Defense Programs, he leads the team that directs the Stockpile Stewardship Program, which is responsible for maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
Prior to joining NNSA, Dr. Verdon was the Principal Associate Director within the Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In this role, he was responsible for the management and coordination of all of the lab’s weapons program activities.
Before that, Dr. Verdon served as the Directorate’s Principal Deputy Principal Associate Director, Program Director for the Secondary Nuclear Design Program, and the AX-Division Leader. In these roles, he worked to maintain national and global security by maintaining scientific and technical leadership in all aspects of thermonuclear weapon physics design and operation. He was also responsible for the management of the scientific grand challenge effort of achieving ignition at the National Ignition Facility.
Dr. Verdon was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1997. In addition, in 1995 the society awarded him the Excellence in Plasma Physics Research Award for outstanding theoretical work, computational design and analysis, and experimental work leading to quantitative and predictive understanding of aspects of high-energy density plasmas.
Dr. Verdon holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Arizona.