Lichtenstein Distinguished Lecture - Jeff Wadsworth

Battelle - From Founding Purposes to 21st Century Global Issues

The origin of the Battelle Memorial Institute was created in the Will of Gordon Battelle in 1920. The doors opened for business in 1929 on King Avenue across from The Ohio State University. With a total of 45 employees and about $3.5M, the start of a journey had begun to fulfill Gordon Battelle's goals to create inventions, reduce them to practice for the good of society, and reinvest returns in research and development and also into education. Over the years we have created the Xerox machine, the universal barcode, the compact disc, the cruise control, and many other now commonplace items. Today, in 2012, we have 24,000 employees, and an annual revenue of about $6.5B. In addition to the Columbus operations, we manage or co-manage eight national laboratories, several manufacturing centers, and oversee our own venture capital fund. We operate the world's most powerful neutron source, X-ray beams, and computers. We have operations in hundreds of locations including a number in Europe and Asia. In today’s lecture, I will briefly summarize our history, our current state, and give some examples of our research, facilities, and latest inventions. I will also discuss global trends that influence how we plan for the future.

Speaker: Jeff Wadsworth, President and Chief Executive Officer, Battelle Memorial Institute

Jeff Wadsworth was educated at Sheffield University in England, where he studied metallurgy, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1975. He was awarded a Doctor of Metallurgy degree in 1991 for his published work and received the highest recognition conferred by the university, an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree, in July 2004. Jeff came to the United States in 1976 and has worked at Stanford University, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Jeff has authored or co-authored nearly 300 scientific papers and 1 book, and he has been granted 4 U.S. patents. His many honors and awards include five honorary doctorates, two honorary professorships from Chinese universities, and election to the rank of Fellow of three technical societies. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2005 and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2012.

Host: Hojjat Adeli (phone: 614-292-7929)