Professor Ivan Maldonado has been named associate department head for nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee.
Maldonado, who joined the UT nuclear engineering faculty in 2007 as an associate professor with a joint appointment with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will begin his new role on August 1.
“It is truly an honor and a privilege for me at this stage in my career to be able to give back to our amazing department,” Maldonado said. “The most significant accomplishments in my career as a university professor have been facilitated by my affiliation with UT nuclear engineering, where I’ve been continuously supported by exceptional leaders, colleagues, and staff, but most importantly, lifted by so many outstanding students.”
Maldonado has been affiliated with the US nuclear industry for more than 30 years, with expertise in computational modeling and simulation of current and next-generation nuclear reactors and specialization in nuclear fuel management. Most recently, his students have also been involved in neutronics simulations for activation, waste classification, and dose rate assessments of fusion reactors.
Maldonado was tenured at UT in 2012 and received full professorship in 2017. The Tickle College of Engineering has recognized him with the Research Achievement Award in 2012, 2017, and 2022. He has mentored and supported more than 25 PhD students and 50 master’s students, co-authoring over 250 scholarly articles mostly with his graduate students.
Recognized in 2024 as an American Nuclear Society (ANS) Fellow, Maldonado has been a consultant to several organizations and had worked in the nuclear industry as a technical program manager for General Electric/Global Nuclear Fuel. He has served as technical program chair and division chair for the ANS’s Reactor Physics Division, and co-general chair and honorary chair for the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors in 2012 and 2028, respectively. Last year, he served as the general chair for the 2025 Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management conference.
Maldonado received his bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Toledo in 1985. He earned his master’s degree and PhD in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University in 1988 and 1993, respectively.
“There’s nobody better to serve as the new associate department head with a focus on the undergraduate education then our longest-standing faculty member in the department,” TVA NE Department Chair Brian Wirth said. “Ivan’s focused his career on student success and outcomes and has the most institutional memory of any of our active faculty members in the department. He is a fantastic choice, and I’m looking forward to great partnership with him.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])