[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 117 (Friday, August 1, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S10896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DR. BILL MADIA

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a true leader in 
the science community and to thank him for his hard work on behalf of 
Tennessee and the Nation. After 3 years as Director of the Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory, Dr. Bill Madia will be stepping down to return to 
Battelle headquarters in Columbus, OH as the Executive Vice President 
for Laboratory Operations. During his tenure in Oak Ridge, Bill has had 
a tremendous impact not only on the laboratory, but on the Oak Ridge 
community as well.
  Bill Madia came to ORNL to continue the lab's tradition of world-
class scientific research dating back to the Manhattan Project, and to 
advance its work on critical Department of Energy missions. His 
presence was felt immediately, as he took on an ambitious laboratory 
revitalization effort which included building new facilities to expand 
research capabilities, upgrading existing facilities to enhance ongoing 
research, and tearing down outdated facilities to relieve the lab from 
unnecessary overhead costs.
  The cornerstone of this revitalization effort is the Spallation 
Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion dollar user facility that will be the 
most powerful machine of its kind in the world. Under Bill's watchful 
eye, the SNS has remained on schedule and on-budget. Alongside the SNS 
is the site for the new Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, the 
first of DOE's cutting-edge nanoscience centers. Down the hill is the 
upgraded High Flux Isotope Reactor; the combination of these three 
facilities has ORNL poised to become a premier neutron science 
laboratory.
  Bill's vision for ORNL also includes scientific computing, and with 
the recent completion of the Center for Computational Sciences, one of 
the most modern computer laboratories in the world, ORNL is ready to be 
a major participant in the Department of Energy's high-end 
supercomputing programs.
  On the biological sciences front, the old ``Mouse House'' is being 
replaced with a new facility, the Laboratory for Comparative and 
Functional Genomics. This updated lab will keep ORNL on the cutting 
edge of genetic research utilizing the mouse colony to address the need 
to study gene function and apply that knowledge to curing human 
diseases. For this research ORNL is participating in a statewide effort 
known as the Tennessee Mouse Genome Consortium, a group that includes 
the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, the University of Tennessee/
Memphis, Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis, St. Jude 
Children's Hospital, Meharry Medical College and East Tennessee State 
University.
  Bill's leadership and commitment have truly made a difference at ORNL 
and throughout Tennessee, and I thank him for his service. I wish him 
all the best in his future endeavors.

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