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Dr. Thomas P. Russell | Enabling Research for the Soldier of Tomorrow

791 views · Published 19 February 2014 · 56:11 · Indexed 17 October 2026

Channel: Michigan Engineering · 2014 · Science & Technology

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Dr. ThomasP.  Russell, Director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), talks about the U.S. Army's premier in-house laboratory for fundamental and applied research.  ARL provides the Soldiers of today and tomorrow with the scientific discoveries, technological advances, and the analyses to maintain tactical superiority and enable across-the-board operations. In addition to a diverse group of scientists and engineers, ARL has a strong history of collaboration with industry and academia for the discovery, innovation, and transition of emerging technologies. This talk will discuss some past and current advances that have been achieved by ARL, a vision for where future Army technology is heading, and how ARL's mission, research programs, and external collaborations are addressing the technical challenges associated with realizing that vision.

Sponsored by the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department (http://http://www.eecs.umich.edu/) as part of the William Gould Dow Distinguished Lectureship lecture series.

Speaker & Title:    
Dr. Thomas P. Russell
Director, U.S. Army Research Laboratory -Adelphi, MD

Speaker Bio: 
As Director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Dr. Russell is responsible for the Army's premier laboratory for basic and applied research and analysis. ARL conducts research and analysis in weapons and materials, sensors and electron devices, computation and information sciences, human research and engineering, vehicle technology, and survivability and lethality analysis. ARL's Army Research Office executes the Army extramural basic research program in scientific and engineering disciplines. The Laboratory consists of approximatley 2,000 military and civilian employees with annual revenue of over $1 billion.

Russell's government career began as a research scientist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak Laboratory, MD. In 1994, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory, serving as a research scientist and Head of the High-Energy Materials Section within the Chemistry Division. In 2000, he was assigned to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division. In 2006, he was selected as the Director of the Aerospace and Materials Sciences Directorate, AFOSR. He was responsible for the Air Force basic research program in aerospace, chemical, and material sciences.

In 2010, Dr. Russell was named Director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Arlington, VA. He oversaw the management of the entire basic research investment for the Air Force, leading a staff of 200 scientists, engineers, and administrators in Arlington, VA, and foreign technology offices in London, Tokyo, and Santiago, Chile.

Russell has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Muhlenberg College and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Delaware. His principal fields of interest are energetic materials, decomposition/combustion chemistry, detonation physics/chemistry, high-pressure chemistry/physics and spectroscopy. He has authored more than 100 publications and inventions in these areas.

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