Wendy R. Cieslak, PhD
Director
Hertz Fellow
Wendy R. Cieslak is currently Deputy to the Vice President for Science, Technology and Engineering (ST&E) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She will be the Materials Science & Technology (MST) Division Leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The MST Division Leader provides scientific and technical leadership to the organization serving as the Laboratory's focal point for structural materials research, development, and application. Division capabilities include materials characterization (microstructural, mechanical properties, physical properties, and transport), metallurgy and metals processing, polymers and coatings, structure-property relations, ion/solid interactions, materials theory, and materials science fundamentals.
At Sandia, Dr. Cieslak leads the Laboratory Directed R&D program, the University Partnerships program, and operations of the ST&E Strategic Management Unit. Her responsibilities include strategic planning for Sandia’s ST&E foundations and major capabilities, assessment of R&D metrics, and management of Sandia’s ST&E peer review and NNSA performance evaluation processes. Dr. Cieslak has also served as Deputy Director of the Physical, Chemical and Nanosciences Center, the Energetic Components Center, and the Geoscience and Environment Center. Previous management assignments have included Technical Advisor with the Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences, in Germantown, Maryland and Manager of the Materials Interface Reliability Department at Sandia. Dr. Cieslak joined Sandia in 1983 as a technical staff performing basic and applied corrosion research of metals in liquid and atmospheric environments. She has also been the lead technologist for Sandia’s lithium/thionyl-chloride battery development and lithium-ion battery research programs.
Dr. Cieslak earned her Ph.D. and B.S. in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A graduate Hertz Fellow, she is being inducted to the Hertz Foundation Board of Directors in October 2008. She is a Fellow of ASM, International. Her professional service has included: 2008 President of the AAAS Southwest and Rocky Mountain Region, 1997 National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council study on Aging of U.S. Air Force Aircraft; Editorial Board for Corrosion Journal; and advisory boards for the Environmental and Energy Sciences Division at Idaho National Laboratory, the College of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Dept of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of California, Davis.
Wendy pioneered the establishment of part-time employment at Sandia in 1989 so that she could continue her career while raising her daughters. She is an active mentor and coach, especially to women. As a violinist in the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra for almost 10 years, Wendy performs regularly under the direction of Maestro David Felberg. She volunteers her time to help this non-profit community orchestra in administrative and logistic tasks. She plays chamber music frequently as part of informal string ensembles, and studies violin with Leonard Felberg, Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico.
