Incoming Berkeley Lab Director Kathy Yelick honored with recent award
June 8, 2026 •
Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science Dario Gil presents incoming Berkeley Lab director
Kathy Yelick with the AI Honors Public Science Award from the Washington AI Network.
On June 3, 2026, incoming Berkeley Lab Director Kathy Yelick, Ph.D., received the AI Honors Public Science Award from the Washington AI Network. recognizing a career dedicated to expanding the frontiers of computing and advancing science for the benefit of society.
Darío Gil, under secretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and director of the Genesis Mission — an initiative uniting DOE National Labs, industry, academia and others to harness AI for breakthroughs in energy dominance, discovery science and national security — presented the award.
A pioneer in high-performance computing and machine learning, Yelick has helped advance the computing tools that power discoveries across science. On July 1, she will become Berkeley Lab’s Director — the first computer scientist to lead the Lab in its 90-year history.
“[It was] such a privilege to be among the honorees, past and present, and meet the impressive AI leaders in the government, education, and the private sector,” said Kathy.
Watch a video of her at the event below.
Tags: AI, award, Katherine Yelick, Kathy Yelick
