Dr. John C. Wagner of Idaho Falls, Idaho, director of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and president of Battelle Energy Alliance LLC, will speak at commencement ceremonies at Missouri University of Science and Technology this month.

Commencement ceremonies will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, May 14, and at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at the Gale Bullman Building, located at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue in Rolla. During the ceremonies, over 1,100 degrees will be awarded to graduate and undergraduate candidates.

To attend a ceremony, students were required to register in advance, and each graduate was allowed two guests. All attendees are required to wear facial coverings and sit in designated areas to maintain social distancing guidelines. The ceremonies will also be livestreamed on Missouri S&T’s Facebook page and university website. The university will confer degrees to all qualified graduates regardless of their attendance.

Wagner, who earned a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering from Missouri S&T in 1992, has been at INL since 2016. He is responsible for managing and integrating a large, multipurpose laboratory whose mission focuses on nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and energy and environmental science and technology. He manages the U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory of approximately 5,200 scientists, engineers and support staff in multiple nuclear and nonnuclear experimental facilities, with an annual budget of over $1.3 billion. Prior to joining INL, Wagner worked for nearly 17 years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he held several research and leadership roles in reactor and fuel cycle technologies. 

Wagner is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and recipient of the 2013 E.O. Lawrence Award. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports, and conference summaries. He earned master of science and Ph.D. degrees from Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and 1997, respectively. More information about Missouri S&T commencement is available at registrar.mst.edu/commencement.