Kimberly Sawyer is the Chief Executive for National Laboratories at The University of Chicago, where she oversees stewardship of Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. She previously served as
Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. With a background spanning both the public and private sectors, Sawyer is widely recognized for driving institutional transformation and innovation.
Sawyer has a proven track record of instituting organizational effectiveness and efficiencies along with building a strong safety culture within the DOE complex. She served as the deputy laboratory director and chief operating officer at Argonne National Laboratory. She also served as the deputy laboratories director and executive vice president for mission support at Sandia National Laboratories.
Prior to DOE, Sawyer worked at defense contractor Lockheed Martin, where she led large engineering and technology organizations supporting complex U.S. Department of Defense programs. She also held roles of progressive leadership in private industry.
Sawyer holds a master’s degree in mathematics and computing from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Robert Morris University.
Sawyer has served on advisory and review committees and boards, including Stanford University’s SLAC Board of Operations, Ames National Laboratory operations board, and the Fermi Forward Discovery Group Board of Directors. She is also chair of the University of Massachusetts Lowell Kennedy College of Science board.