Michael Anastasio
Dr. Michael R. Anastasio, Ph.D., is the former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), retiring in 2011. Dr. Anastasio is also the former Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the only person to ever hold both positions.
He began his career at LLNL as a physicist dealing with the science of nuclear weapons. During his tenure Dr. Anastasio was instrumental in the development and execution of the national Stockpile Stewardship Program, which uses fundamental science‐based approach to sustain the safety, security, and reliability of America’s nuclear weapons stockpile. He has served in the capacity of scientific adviser at the Department of Energy and has provided scientific advice to senior members of the government on various national security science issues.
Dr. Anastasio is currently serving as a member of the Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC mission committee and of the TRIAD National Security, LLC mission committee for Los Alamos National Laboratory.
He has also served on other boards and committees including the United States Strategic Command Strategic Advisory Group and chair of the Stockpile Assessment Team, the Defense Science Board (now the Science, Technology and Innovation Board) and its Permanent Committee on Nuclear Surety, the State Department International Security Advisory Board, the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise, as a member of the Corporation of the Draper Laboratory, and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Peer Review and Design Competition in the NNSA National Security Laboratories.
Dr. Anastasio received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from Stony Brook University, a B.A. in Physics, with Honors, from Johns Hopkins University and is a member of Sigma Pi Sigma, National Physics Honor Society.
He is widely recognized for his leadership in national security science and the safe stewardship of nuclear weapons. He is the recipient of the LLNL 2025 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal, the DOE/NNSA Gold Medal, the Distinguished Alumni Award–Stony Brook University, and the DOE Weapons Recognition of Excellence Award for technical leadership in nuclear design.