ORAU: Then & Now
ORAU: Then & Now is an excellent resource to explore how our people, programs, and partnerships are driving meaningful impact, serving our nation, and enhancing global competitiveness in areas such as STEM education, workforce solutions, exposure science, health education, disaster preparedness, forensic science, and more.
Discover our rich history, which traces back to the Manhattan Project during World War II, and learn how we continue to address critical national needs in science, health, and education.
Meghan Millwood, ORAU President and CEO, began her career at ORAU over 24 years. She was selected by the ORAU Board of Directors in the summer of 2025 and assumed the role of President and CEO in September, when ORAU was amid one of the most challenging years in ORAU’s nearly 80-year history.
ORAU’s K-12 STEM education team offered two programs in June 2026 designed to encourage young people and their teachers to get excited about nuclear science through hands-on demonstrations.
Roger Cloutier entered the field just as radiation science was accelerating at an extraordinary pace. Over the course of his 33 years at ORAU, he led programs in health physics, medical physics and environmental sciences, helping shape the profession during a period of rapid scientific and regulatory growth.
Three Alabama high school welding instructors had their classes interrupted recently because they were the first-ever winners of the Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders competition.
Leaders from labor organizations, industry, government, education and community support services convened at the Pathway to Trades Summit to address one of the region’s most urgent challenges: building a skilled workforce capable of meeting the rapidly growing demands of the nuclear sector.
By all measures, ORAU’s 2026 Earth Day recycling event was a record-breaking success: this year’s two-day collection drive had the highest participation totals, donation totals and overall weight totals since the event started in 2010. But the biggest winner is the community.
Every year, once the ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover selection committee chooses the recipient of the $25,000 grand prize, the excitement begins as plans are set in motion for a surprise announcement. This event is one of our favorite moments of the year, and the 2026 winner is Logan Woods, a 6th-grade math and science teacher at Sevierville Intermediate School.