Dear Colleagues,
Robert C. Wunderlich, Manager of the Chicago Office, is retiring from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science on June 3, 2008. I know I speak for everyone who has worked with him when I thank him for his dedication and leadership. When called on for extraordinary service, he has stepped forward selflessly and performed admirably. He is an inspiration to his colleagues, and represents the very best in us. We shall miss him greatly.
Beginning as a Marine rifleman in Viet Nam and now finishing his 37-year career at the highest ranks of the federal civil service, Bob has worked on many of the nation’s highest priority programs. Bob began his career with the Atomic Energy Commission in 1973 as an intern in the Reactor Design and Development Division in Washington, D.C., where he was later appointed a Reactor Engineer. In 1979, Bob moved to Columbus, Ohio as the Deputy Manager of the Salt Repository Project Office and then to Chicago in 1988 to work on the Superconducting Super Collider project.
Bob was then named DOE Project Manager for the Advanced Photon Source Project at Argonne National Laboratory, where he oversaw the construction of this $800 million major systems acquisition, on time and under budget. Bob’s success in managing construction of this one-of-a-kind source of scientific and economic progress was recognized by his colleagues in the Project Management Institute with their highest award.
In 2002, Bob was selected as the Argonne Area Office Manager (now Argonne Site Office) with line management responsibility for the successful operation of DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory – one of the Office of Science’s premiere multi-program laboratories.
Most recently as the Manager of the Chicago Office, in addition to overseeing and supporting $2.2 billion in Departmental programs, Bob championed Secretary Bodman’s effort to bring better management practices to DOE by leading the creation and implementation of the Science Management Systems (SCMS), an effort to bring world-class systems to our management of the science enterprise. He also shepherded the difficult and complex contracts that created the three Bioenergy Research Centers, the first of their kind within in the Department of Energy. Their establishment was time-certain, and required extraordinary sophistication and leadership to succeed: Bob was up to the task.
President George Bush recognized Bob in 2004 with the Presidential Rank Award for sustained superior performance and leadership. And this May 20, Secretary Bodman honored Bob with The Secretary’s Exceptional Service Award “in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments and remarkable leadership in public service to the Department of Energy and the Nation.”
Please join me in thanking Bob Wunderlich for his wonderful accomplishments in federal service, and wishing him and his family health and happiness in his retirement.
Sincerely,
Raymond L. Orbach
Director, Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
