Jill Hruby was sworn in Monday as the sixth administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, she wrote in a Twitter post on the official government account for the nuclear-weapons agency’s leader.
Today, surrounded by my family, I was sworn in as #NNSA Administrator by @SecGranholm. Leading the dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to advance our Nation’s #nuclear #security missions is a tremendous privilege. pic.twitter.com/jPZZcbBaRR
— NNSA Administrator (@NNSAHruby) July 26, 2021
Hruby replaces acting administrator Charlie Verdon, the full-time deputy administrator for defense programs confirmed by the Senate during the Donald Trump administration. Verdon replaced William Bookless as acting administrator after then-Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette demanded the resignation of the fifth full-time administrator of the agency, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty.
The Senate confirmed Hruby on Thursday.
Hruby is the former director of the Sandia National Laboratories. She rose through the ranks over a 30-plus-year career to become director of the nuclear-weapons-engineering labs-network. She retired in 2017 and spent a few years in non-government groups, where she did the occasional public speaking for nuke watchers in Washington.
Hruby has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the second woman to lead the agency in its 20-year history and the first former labs director to hold the post.