Dr. L. Wayne Brasure

In October 2016, President Obama appointed Dr. L. Wayne Brasure as the Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO).  He also serves as DNDO’s Component Acquisition Executive.

DNDO is the lead federal agency mandated to develop and enhance radiological and nuclear detection and national technical nuclear forensics capabilities.  Under his leadership, DNDO conducts research and development of detection and forensics technologies, characterizes system performance, acquires and deploys detection systems, supports operational partners, and builds and sustains the pipeline of next generation technical experts.  As the Component Acquisition Executive, he is responsible for establishing acquisition processes and overseeing the execution of the acquisition portfolio within DNDO.  Prior to his appointment, Dr. Brasure served at DNDO as the Acting Director and Deputy Director from 2014 to 2016.   

Before joining DHS, Dr. Brasure served in a wide variety of disciplines, organizations, and national security programs as an active-duty Air Force officer, in the private sector, and in federal civil service.  He served as the Director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) where he managed the entire basic research investment portfolio for the Air Force, leading a staff of 200 scientists, engineers, and administrators in the United States and foreign technology offices in London, Tokyo, and Santiago.  He previously served as the Executive Director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.  As the Center’s senior executive, he was responsible for program oversight and integration of the multi-billion dollar sustainment and recapitalization of Air Force nuclear deterrent weapon systems. 

Other notable highlights include his strategic defense initiative and nuclear weapons work, which led him to assignments in weapons engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, and in weapons design at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA.  He has held senior leadership and management positions in the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and in the Air Force.  He also has served on the faculty in the Physics Department at the U.S. Air Force Academy and as an Adjunct Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Brasure received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Michigan, Master of Science degrees in systems management from the University of Southern California and in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of New Mexico.