Dr. Willard “Bill” Wadt joined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1976 and retired after 34 years. He received his AB in chemistry and mathematics from Williams College and his PhD in chemistry from Caltech. He started in basic and applied research and then moved into line, project, and institutional management, including systems-based improvement in environment, safety, health, quality, strategic planning, community relations, educational outreach, economic development, and Laboratory-wide organizational performance.
During his 34 years at LANL Bill took leaves twice, once to teach at Williams College and once to serve as Vice President for Inorganic Sciences at BioDesign, a Caltech spinoff company. He chairs the board of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation and serves on the board of Quality New Mexico.
He also serves on the Advisory Council for Cognia New Mexico and chairs New Mexico Excellence in Learning, an education initiative of Quality New Mexico. In 1997 Bill helped to establish the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation and often served on its board. He was recognized by Science Digest as one of America’s 100 Brightest Scientists under 40 in 1984.