In December, Dr. Craig Marianno was named the Interim Director of the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) to replace the outgoing Director Dr. Sunil Chirayath, who joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in January as a distinguished R&D scientist in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division. Dr. Marianno, an associate professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Nuclear Engineering and longtime Deputy Director of the center, first joined NSSPI in 2009, and his research team focuses on emergency response, health physics, radiation detection, nuclear security, and safeguards.