March 3, 2006

To: All Lab Employees

I write to inform you of two major changes in Lab leadership and organization and what they will mean to the Lab in general and to Operations specifically.

Several months ago, we decided to create the position of Deputy Chief Operations Officer. Although the current organizational structure was adequately serving us, the new ideas and directions in science that were surfacing made it clear that the structure would need to evolve. At the Division Directors' Retreats in November and December, important new scientific initiatives were decided upon. Among them were the Helios project (aka Solar to Fuel); several new buildings for programs in computing, Helios, and ALS support; and much closer relations with the UC Berkeley and other UC campuses. The Division Directors and Ops heads reached a new level of understanding on the urgency of closely integrating science and operations so that we can quickly undertake our bold new science initiatives. To produce the required level of Ops support, while driving down overhead costs, we realized we needed a more sophisticated organizational structure and expanded capacity in our executive leadership. Thus we posted for a Deputy COO.

I'm pleased to announce that A.X. (Sandy) Merola has accepted the position. A second major change in Ops is also a natural outcome of the Division Directors' Retreats. Researchers from all Divisions have told us they would benefit from an Operations organization that is more fully aligned in support of LBNL science. To focus our Ops talents more effectively, with greater cost-efficiency, the IT Division and the Finance Department will become a formal part of Ops. We expect the benefits to be substantial: as examples, we will increase the effectiveness of the Lab by bringing under one umbrella the major Ops units. We will also achieve cost savings in our administrative systems by integrating technical support (IT) and functional Ops units (Finance, EH&S, and Facilities).

Within the new Operations, Sandy will report to the Chief Operating Officer, David McGraw; Sandy will serve as Deputy in all aspects of leading and overseeing Lab support and will be in close contact with UC and DOE. Since Sandy will be relinquishing his present position of Division Director of IT, we will immediately post and search for his replacement. The Finance support organization, EH&S, Human Resources, Public Affairs, and Workforce Diversity will report to David, with Sandy responsible for the IT Division, the Facilities Division, and the Lab's Cyber and some of its Physical Security efforts. ESnet, currently in the IT Division, will become part of the Computational Research Division.

To ensure appropriate Lab-wide policy and assurance, the CFO and CIO positions will continue to report directly to me.

I ask you to provide David, Sandy and Jeffrey with your best thoughts and ideas on how to realize the benefit the new Ops organization. Within their respective units, they will be giving more specific guidance on how each staff member can ensure a smooth implementation of the above changes.

These changes are effective immediately.

Sincerely,
Steven Chu