Steven D. Richardson

Deputy Director for Operations/Chief Operating Officer

(View a printable, PDF version.)

Steven D. Richardson is Deputy Director for Operations/Chief Operating Officer for Argonne National Laboratory. He is responsible for providing operations and business management support for programmatic activities in compliance with environmental, safety, health and quality (ESH&Q) requirements and best-management practices. In this role, he will integrate the expertise and best commercial practices of Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., and BWX Technologies, Inc., into Argonne's culture and practices, encourage and develop small-business opportunities involving Argonne and Argonne-developed technology, and will build relationships with the U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne 's programmatic directorates, subcontractors, suppliers and communities. A key area of responsibility will be guiding the laboratory in implementing a standards-based management approach that fully aligns mission support functions to the research and development programs.

Richardson comes to Argonne from the Jacobs Engineering Group, which he joined in March 2000 after retiring as the Deputy Manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Operations Office. In several assignments within Jacobs, he held positions with both operations and sales responsibilities with a primary focus on the Jacobs contracts with the Department of Energy and other nuclear related contracts.

Prior to his assignment as the Oak Ridge Deputy Manager in 1995, Richardson held a number of DOE executive positions, both at the Savannah River Operations Office in Aiken , S.C. , and DOE Headquarters in Washington , D.C. Before joining DOE in 1989, Richardson was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Director, responsible for regulatory oversight of the Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power program restart.

A native of Syracuse , N.Y. , Richardson graduated from the Ohio State University in 1972 with two degrees in mechanical engineering. He began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where he was responsible for the design, manufacture and operation of various nuclear-powered submarine and surface ship propulsion components.