ORNL appoints Budhu Bhaduri as first Chief Data Officer

The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Budhendra "Budhu" Bhaduri its first Chief Data Officer. The newly established role unifies ORNL's enterprise data strategy to accelerate mission impact across open science, energy innovation, national security and laboratory operations.

As Chief Data Officer, Bhaduri will report to the Deputy for Science and Technology within the Laboratory Director's Office and work closely with the Chief Information Officer and Associate Laboratory Directors to optimize ORNL's data infrastructure and execute a strategy that accelerates research, strengthens efficient operations and scales across ORNL organizations and facilities.

He will chair an ORNL Data Governance Council and partner closely with leaders of facilities, initiatives and AI-intensive projects across the lab - including those contributing to DOE's Genesis Mission, a national initiative to build the world's most powerful scientific platform to accelerate discovery science, strengthen national security and drive energy innovation.

To support laboratory operations, Bhaduri will align tools and practices that ensure ORNL remains a trusted steward of data and information while positioning the lab as a national leader in AI-enabled science and technology.

"Establishing a Chief Data Officer underscores ORNL's commitment to treating data as a strategic asset for science and operations," said Susan Hubbard, ORNL's Deputy for Science and Technology. "Budhu's proven leadership in complex, data-intensive programs will help unify our enterprise data strategy, modernize our architecture and governance, and accelerate responsible, AI-enabled discovery."

An ORNL Corporate Research Fellow, Bhaduri joined the laboratory in 1998 as a research scientist and most recently served as Director of Science, Programs, and Partnerships for the National Security Sciences Directorate. In 2025, he was recognized as one of the "Top 50 Data Changemakers in the Energy Sector" by CDO Magazine and the Data Society.

From 2018 to 2024, Bhaduri led ORNL's Geospatial Science and Human Security Division. Between 2014 and 2019, he founded and led ORNL's Urban Dynamics Institute, advancing data-driven understanding of complex urban systems and building enduring partnerships with universities, industry and philanthropic foundations.

Bhaduri is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association of Geographers, and he holds professorial appointments at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned a doctorate from Purdue University, a master's from Kent State University, and a master's and bachelor's from the University of Calcutta, India.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.