Governor McAuliffe announced the appointment of Dr. William "Bill" Briscoe to serve on the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority (VNECA). Dr. Briscoe became the first GW faculty member to serve on one of Governor McAuliffe's commissions.
In 2013, the General Assembly passed legislation to create VNECA for the purposes of making the Commonwealth a national and global leader in nuclear energy and serving as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource for the Commonwealth on nuclear energy issues.
The Commission is made up of executives from major nuclear companies in Virginia including Dominion, Huntington Ingalls, AREVA, B&W and Bechtel and faculty from the Commonwealth's leading research and education institutions. Dr. Briscoe is the only researcher representing a private institution in Virginia.
“I am honored to serve the Commonwealth of Virginia as a member of the Authority. I am pleased Governor McAuliffe is taking action to position Virginia as a leader in nuclear energy,” said Dr. Briscoe.
Dr. Briscoe is an expert in nuclear detection and detection devices. Currently, he is Director of both the GW Data Analysis Center and GW’s Institute for Nuclear Studies. He has worked as a guest or visiting scientist at several national and international laboratories including the:
- Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute (AFRRI), Bethesda, MD;
- Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF), Los Alamos, NM;
- National Bureau of Standards Radiation Laboratory (NBS), Gaithersburg, MD;
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (most recent).
Dr. Briscoe earned his Ph.D. in Experimental Nuclear Physics from The Catholic University of America in 1978 (MS, Northeastern, 1972 and BA, Catholic University, 1970). He was an assistant research professor for four years at the University of California, Los Angeles. He came to GW in 1982 as assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1986 and professor in 1998.