Dave Funk, currently the senior director of the Advanced Sources and Detectors Project Office at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is retiring after more than 30 years at the Lab to embark on a new opportunity at Nevada National Security Site.
There, beginning in early November, Funk will serve as the vice president of the Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments portfolio. In this new role, Funk will be responsible for the U1a Complex Enhancements Project, the ZEUS Test Bed, and the NNSS scope for the Advanced Sources and Detectors (also known as Scorpius) Project — all of which will deliver high-quality plutonium data for use in stewarding the nation’s nuclear deterrent.
“I have personally benefited enormously from Dave’s wisdom and expertise, and I wish him all the best as he transitions to this next phase of his contributions to national security,” said Don Haynes, senior director of Los Alamos’ Nevada Programs Office, of which the Advanced Sources and Detectors Office is a part. “Though Dave’s retirement leaves gargantuan shoes to fill at Los Alamos, I am delighted that he will continue as a member of the national leadership team to deliver the world-class capability of Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments to the nation.”
Funk’s new job is an extension of his current one: since 2018, Funk has successfully led the national Advanced Sources and Detectors Project as a senior director in the Laboratory’s Nevada Programs Office. In addition to Los Alamos, this national project is supported by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and the Nevada National Security Site.
Funk will retire from Los Alamos after a long and distinguished career. He came to Los Alamos in 1989 after earning a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Utah. As a postdoc, he studied photochemistry and photophysics. He became a staff member in 1991 and eventually became a project leader for the High Explosive Reaction Chemistry via Ultrafast Laser Excited Spectroscopies and Neutron Resonance Spectroscopy projects.
In 2004, Funk served as the restart manager for the Dynamic Experimentation division, prior to becoming the Dynamic and Energetic Materials deputy division leader and Science Campaign 2 program manager in 2006. In 2008, while Dynamic Experimentation deputy, he held a brief stint as the Dynamic Plutonium Experiments program manager before taking on the Hydrodynamics Experiments division leader position in early 2009. In this role, Funk oversaw the execution of the first dual-axis hydrotest at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility in 2009.
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