Jason Hayward, a professor and UCOR Fellow in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) Merit Award, which recognizes outstanding technical contributions to the fields of nuclear and plasma science.
Hayward will receive $5,000, a plaque, and a certificate for being selected. He will be presented with the award at an NPSS sponsored meeting.
Hayward’s citation for the NPSS Merit Award reads: “For contributions to increasing understanding of radiation instrumentation and measurement methodology pertaining to scintillation detectors, Cherenkov detectors, high-purity germanium strips detectors, radioactive source search, associated particle imaging, and gamma-ray LiDAR.”
“I am delighted to have my past radiation instrumentation and measurement methodology work with students and collaborators recognized by IEEE’s Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society,” Hayward said. “And I am thankful for the support I’ve received from the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and my research sponsors to make these achievements possible.”
Hayward’s research expertise is in radiation instrumentation, especially for nonproliferation technologies and imaging. A former Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Hayward joined the UT faculty in 2008 and holds faculty appointments with ORNL and the Y12 National Security Complex. He serves as Director of the DOE’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation’s Enabling Capabilities in Technology (TECH) Consortium and the Deputy Executive Director for the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium.
Selection for the NPSS Merit Award is judged by importance of individual technical contributions; importance of technical contributions made by teams led by the candidate; quality and significance of publications and patents; and years of technical distinction, leadership and service within the fields of nuclear and plasma sciences and related disciplines.
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)