image: Shaun Gleason, director of the Partnerships Office at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Credit: Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Shaun Gleason, director of the Partnerships Office at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been appointed to Tennessee’s Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council. Council members are appointed by the governor and provide a collaborative source of knowledge, expertise and information sharing to advance the state’s use of AI technologies.
"Shaun's participation on the AI Advisory Council represents a crucial partnership between state government and cutting-edge research,” said ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer. “He brings decades of experience moving breakthrough technologies from the laboratory to industry and can contribute meaningful insights as the state advances the use of AI to benefit Tennesseans.”
In October, DOE announced its newest supercomputers, Discovery and Lux, would be built at ORNL, expanding America’s leadership in artificial intelligence for scientific computing, strengthening national security, and driving cutting-edge science. Discovery and Lux will support the recently announced Genesis Mission, a historic national effort to transform American science and innovation through the power of AI. As a leading partner of the Genesis Mission, ORNL will apply AI at the exascale to strengthen America’s energy independence, global competitiveness, and security.
Gleason founded the Cyber and Applied Data Analytics Division in 2018, after serving as director of the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division from 2013 to 2018 and as ORNL’s director of Institutional Planning from 2011 to 2013. He also served as interim associate laboratory director for the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate from June 2023 until December 2023.
Gleason joined ORNL in 1989. An electrical engineer by training, he took an entrepreneurial leave in 1998 to co-found ImTek, Inc., a preclinical medical imaging company. ImTek transferred the ORNL-developed technology to the commercial sector and later merged with Siemens. In 2008, he returned to ORNL as a distinguished researcher and leader of the Image Science and Machine Vision group.
Gleason earned his undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Tennessee. He has authored and coauthored 120 publications and has been issued 10 patents in the fields of electrical engineering, computer vision and machine learning.
"AI is set to redefine how Tennessee functions — streamlining state operations, enhancing public services, accelerating research and development, and driving economic growth,” Gleason said. “By tapping into AI's potential in field like scientific discovery, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture, we're poised to build the workforce of the future, create high-tech jobs, attract innovative businesses, and build a more dynamic economy. I am committed to applying my expertise to guide a thoughtful, responsible, and impactful integration of AI that benefits every Tennessean."
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Brynn Downing