About UT & ORNL
The Historical Link
Big science is huge in the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnership. Just 30 miles apart, the two institutions grow closer every day as they become ever stronger partners.
Since ORNL’s beginning in 1943, its staff have taught science and engineering in an adjunct capacity at UT, while university faculty have served as consultants and research participants at ORNL. The relationship expanded in 1984 with the creation of the Science Alliance, a state-funded program that promotes joint research and educational collaboration.
Both institutions have strengthened their research agendas through the Distinguished Scientist program, which attracts world-class researchers who work at both ORNL and UT.
A New Relationship
The relationship took a new direction in 2000 when UT teamed up with the respected technology giant Battelle to win the contract to manage the laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. UT-Battelle set about commercializing ORNL’s extensive portfolio of technologies. In return, the state began funding facilities on the ORNL campus that would be used and managed jointly by UT and the laboratory. The state’s investment brings a “three-for-one” benefit: State funds leverage federal and private funds for ORNL’s modernization initiative; UT’s research program has been strengthened by greater access to ORNL resources and by new facilities for biological, computational, and neutron sciences; and ORNL has made its portfolio of technologies available for the creation of new jobs.
Since 2000, the UT-Battelle partnership has modernized the laboratory with $300 million in federal funding, and the state of Tennessee has invested $30 million in three joint institutes, as well as matching funds to support new joint research appointments called the Governor’s Chairs. Under UT–Battelle partnership, the laboratory’s research budget has grown nearly 50 percent, and corporate outreach and economic development have expanded. The laboratory is delivering, on time and within budget, the nation’s largest science project, the Spallation Neutron Source, which will revolutionize the development of new drugs and new materials and make the Oak Ridge-UT area the world center of neutron science. At the same time, the laboratory is building the world’s largest supercomputer, which will revitalize the U.S. effort in high-end computing.
The Future
In 2005, UT-Battelle received the Department of Energy’s highest rating for its management performance, and DOE announced it would renew the contract for an additional five years.
Also in 2005, UT received a $20 million federal appropriation for construction of a fourth joint UT-ORNL facility, the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, on the UT campus in Knoxville. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has recommended matching state funds for the building and continued funding for the Governor’s Chairs in his 2007 budget.
ORNL celebrated its 60th year anniversary in 2003 issue of ORNL's quaterly Review provides a good history of the labratory's first 60 years. Available in pdf format.