Katherine Yelick named director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The University of California Board of Regents approved Katherine Yelick as the next director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, effective July 1.

• Appointment details: The Board of Regents approved Yelick following a national search and on the recommendation of UC President James Milliken; her appointment begins July 1, and she will replace departing director Mike Witherell.
• Background and credentials: Yelick is currently Vice Chancellor for Research and Robert S. Pepper Distinguished Professor at UC Berkeley, served as NERSC director (2008–2012), led Berkeley Lab’s Computing Sciences Area (2010–2019), oversaw construction of Shyh Wang Hall (opened 2015), and played lead roles in the Exascale Computing Initiative (2016–2024) and DOE AI/big-data strategy work.