L. Wayne Brasure, a member of the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. Air Force, has been named director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Arlington, Va.

Brasure earned a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1991 and worked under professor Anil Prinja. While a doctoral student at UNM, he received the Outstanding Graduate Student in Nuclear Engineering Award in 1990 and the Top Graduate Student Presented Paper Award from the American Nuclear Society Regional Conference, Arizona State University, in 1990.

In his current role, Brasure manages the entire basic research investment portfolio for the Air Force, leading a staff of 200 scientists, engineers, and administrators in the United States, as well as in technology offices in London, Tokyo, and Santiago, Chile. The office manages a $510 million investment portfolio, and the office’s annual investment in basic research is distributed among more than 200 academic institutions, 150 businesses and 200 research efforts within the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Prior to his current assignment, Brasure served as the executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, where his responsibilities included leadership, program oversight, and integration of the multibillion dollar sustainment and recapitalization of Air Force nuclear deterrent weapon systems. He has also served in a wide variety of disciplines, organizations, and national security programs as an active-duty Air Force officer, in the private sector, and in federal civil service.