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80 Years of ORAU

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“ORAU: From the Beginning” is the inside story of the founding of ORAU as told by William G. Pollard, Ph.D., and others. The book tells the story of ORAU’s early years, from the end of the Manhattan Project to 1979.

Read ORAU: From the Beginning

For 80 years, ORAU has helped advance our nation’s most important missions through science, health and workforce solutions that connect people, ideas and opportunities. Working alongside federal agencies, academic institutions and industry partners, we bring together specialized expertise and a consortium of more than 170 universities to help solve some of the country’s most complex challenges.

Our story began on Oct. 15, 1946, when the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies—later renamed Oak Ridge Associated Universities—was incorporated by the state of Tennessee. That same day, representatives from 14 Southern research universities gathered for the first meeting of the Council of Sponsoring Institutions, establishing a collaborative foundation that continues to shape ORAU today.

As we celebrate our 80th anniversary, we invite you to explore the people, partnerships and milestones that have defined our history and continue to inspire our future. Discover historical photos, essays about our founders and early projects and a timeline highlighting eight decades of impact and innovation.

Impact Areas

Charting the Course: Essays on ORAU’s Founders and Early Leaders

This book highlights the people, ideas and moments that helped define ORAU’s mission and impact over the years. We hope it offers an engaging look at the individuals and experiences behind the organization’s legacy.

Read: Charting the Course

Charting the Course: Essays on ORAU’s Founders and Early Leaders

See ORAU through the years

From black and white to color, watch as ORAU contributes to developing the nation’s workforce, connecting talent and expertise, and strengthening the health, safety, and resilience of communities for 80 Years.

View the photo gallery

See ORAU through the years

‘ORAU has been a vital link’: Lee Riedinger discusses ORAU’s critical, historical role in Oak Ridge and at the University of Tennessee

According to Lee Riedinger, a retired University of Tennessee physics professor, ORAU has been a vital link in the connection between UT and Oak Ridge since the sunsetting of the Manhattan Project after World War II. In fact, he wrote a book about this history.

Read the blog post

‘ORAU has been a vital link’: Lee Riedinger discusses ORAU’s critical, historical role in Oak Ridge and at the University of Tennessee

The Manhattan Project—the beginning of ORAU

The History of ORAU is rooted in the years leading up to when it was established—specifically in the Manhattan Project, the top-secret program created to build the first atomic bombs during WWII. So, how did building nuclear weapons lead to the birth of ORAU? This blog explains.

Read the blog post

The Manhattan Project—the beginning of ORAU

13 ways ORAU has impacted the world

ORAU put together a list highlighting some of our biggest impacts. It’s a list we’re very proud of, and it helps take the macro concept of what we do and puts it into perspective. Review this list to find out if you know how wide ORAU’s ripples reach.

Read the blog post

Read more about ORAU's history in the Then & Now blog

13 ways ORAU has impacted the world

ORAU Timeline

Timeline of ORAU History

1940s

1946

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The Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS) was established after a suggestion by ORNL physicist Katharine Way. Dr. William Pollard (1911-1989), who was named ORINS first executive director, successfully built the necessary support of both the federal government and 14 southern schools to earn a charter of incorporation from the Tennessee Secretary of State. ORINS would remain the name of this organization until 1966 when the Board of Directors decided to rename the institution “Oak Ridge Associated Universities” to better reflect the role that the member universities played with this growing organization.

1949

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Construction of the ORINS Cancer Research Hospital began on June 25. The 30-bed hospital and laboratory were completed in 1950, and the first patients accepted by the division were those afflicted with diseases for which there was already an established backlog of experience in the therapeutic use of radioisotopes. Learn how the ORAU Medical Division advanced cancer research, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine from 1950 to 1974.

1950s

1951

ORINS assumed responsibility for the national administration of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)-sponsored predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowship programs. There were 326 predoctoral fellows and 41 postdoctoral fellows appointed by the Fellowship Board. In recent years, the organization has placed more than 5,000 students and faculty members annually into specialized education programs.

1955

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ORINS offered the first special basic radioisotope course for foreign nationals as part of President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program, established to share the peaceful atom with other countries.

1960s

1960

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The first patient was treated in the Medical Division’s new total body irradiation facility. The patient would lie in a uniform density bed at the center of the room and receive a controlled amount of radiation emitted from eight, 500-curie cesium-137 sources with filters located at each corner of the room. Read more about seven important gifts the Medical Division gave the world in our blog.

1961

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A colony of South American marmosets was established at ORINS to study the immune aspects of bone marrow transplantation. ORINS’ colony of marmosets was the only one in the United States being developed for general lab research. Read more about ORAU Chief Scientist Nazareth Gengozian's establishment of a colony of South American marmosets for his research in 1961.

1966

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The name change from the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS) to Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) became official on Jan. 1, 1966.

1969

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The Atomic Industrial Forum’s 1969 “Forum Award” for significant contributions to public understanding of atomic energy was presented to ORAU in recognition of the “This Atomic World” traveling lecture-demonstration program for high schools. ORAU was cited for “entertainingly informing millions of high school students each year about the development of atomic energy.”

1970s

1970

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The mural “Hymn to Life” was commissioned in 1970 in honor of the patients treated by the staff of the Medical Division. Patients, their relatives, and friends of the division collected the funds for the mural, which was designed and created by Oak Ridge artist Charles Counts. The 12-foot-tall mural, which today can be found in the lobby of the Pollard Center on the ORAU main campus, consists of thousands of one-inch pieces of handmade ceramic tile. Read about the legacy of Dr. Gould Andrews, the pioneering ORAU physician whose groundbreaking nuclear medicine research and compassionate care helped him shape the Atomic Age, and whose commitment is reflected in the Hymn to Life mosaic that hangs in ORAU’s Pollard Center.

1977

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ORAU assumed direction of DOE’s health and mortality studies of on Aug. 1, 1977. These studies, some of which were begun by the Atomic Energy Commission more than a decade ago, continuously evaluate the mortality experience of persons who have been employed in selected nuclear industry installations.

1979

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Dr. Fred Snyder (right) and Merle Blank were part of an ORAU research team that discovered the structure of the platelet-activating factor (PAF) in 1979. PAF is a lipid that plays a crucial role in controlling cell growth, cellular differentiation, blood pressure, and reproductive and development processes.

1980s

1981

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Dr. Paul Frame joined ORAU’s Professional Training Programs as a health physics instructor. Over time, Frame assembled a collection of historical radiation and radioactivity artifacts to support instruction and public education. The collection evolved into ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity, now recognized by the Health Physics Society as its official repository and considered one of the most comprehensive collections of radiological history artifacts in the United States.

1983

ORAU organized a major U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conference in Washington, D.C., for representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Its purpose was to acquaint the representatives with DOE’s mission, research areas, and procedures for submitting proposals.

1987

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The Science and Mathematics Action for Revitalizing Teaching (SMART), a series of week-long summer workshops for teachers of grades K-8, kicked off in 1989. SMART involved entire communities—schools, businesses, and parent groups—to strengthen science and math education in three Tennessee school systems.

1990s

1991

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ORAU offered the first $5,000 Junior Faculty Enhancement grants to five faculty members from ORAU member institutions. The program, which was expanded to include 10 awards in 1992, provides seed money for junior faculty members in physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, mathematics, and computer science.

1992

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The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) was established in 1992 to conduct activities on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies and operated under a management and operating contract by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).

1996

The Radiation Internal Dose Information Center (RIDIC) celebrated its 25th anniversary by hosting the Sixth International Radiopharmaceutical Dosimetry Symposium. RIDIC also introduced its website, from which researchers and physicians could download compendia of dosimetry data via file transfer protocol (FTP), and staff continued to maintain a listserv called DOSE-NET that has fostered a new collaboration among the nuclear medicine community worldwide.

2000s

2002

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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) awarded ORAU a $70-million, five-year contract to manage a radiation dose reconstruction project for former nuclear workers. Working in partnership with Dade Moeller and Associates and MJW Corporation, this project helps NIOSH determine compensation eligibility for those workers covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act.

2009

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ORAU officially opened a new $20 million, 73,000-square-foot, four-story office building located in Oak Ridge. This building was the first new office building in the state of Tennessee to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-level certification.

2009

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ORAU sponsored the first-ever ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover, which provided $25,000 in classroom and technology improvements to Jenny Alvey, a sixth grade science teacher at Gresham Middle School in Knoxville.

2009

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Tennessee Valley Authority contracted with ORAU to manage work related to a major coal fly ash spill at their Kingston Fossil Plant including a medical screening program, health communication outreach campaign, and research grant program.

2010s

2010

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ORAU reached a major milestone on ARRA-funded work to dramatically reduce the number of high-risk facilities at DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. Radiological and chemical characterization was completed at 34 ORNL structures—many of which were deteriorating Manhattan Project-era facilities—and the K-33 super structure located at the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

2012

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In the wake of the Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster that affected the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, ORAU developed Exercise Builder Nuclear, the first Web-based application designed to help nuclear power producers conduct more comprehensive emergency preparedness drills and exercises.

2016

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ORAU redesigned and modernized PeerNet, its Web-based application system for administering peer reviews. Reviewers can now move effortlessly among desktop computers and a range of mobile devices to provide their input. The redesign improved the technologies for security and created a centralized list of ORAU's subject matter experts.

2019

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During 2019, ORAU and its partners were again awarded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contract to support the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on a multi-year contract for work under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, or EEOICPA. ORAU and its partners have led this effort for NIOSH since 2002.

2020s

2020

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Educators around the country had to make a huge pivot from classroom to virtual learning environments when COVID-19 pandemic protection measures closed schools. ORAU’s K-12 STEM team followed suit by converting their teacher professional development programs from in-person to virtual. The results was 330 teachers from 25 states and Canada participating in these workshops.

2021

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NASA selected ORAU to provide the agency with administrative support and coordination of research opportunities between NASA’s mission directorates and centers across the agency. The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented U.S. and non-U.S. scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These fellowships, awarded annually up to three years, are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

2023

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ORAU launched STEM Accelerator to address challenges in STEM education, training, research, and innovation. This diverse network of two- and four-year academic institutions, industry, non-profit, professional organizations, labor unions and government have partnered with the aim of addressing the toughest challenges in STEM education, training, research, and innovation.

2024

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In 2024, ORAU received an unprecedented vote of confidence from one of our long-term customers when the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) extended their contract with us for an extra year, based on our exceptional performance.

2025

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ORAU, in partnership with several leading nuclear industry organizations, launched a strategic initiative to address the workforce challenges and education gaps faced by the nuclear energy industry. The Nuclear Energy Academic Roadmap (NEAR) aims to enhance career awareness, support pipeline development, identify financial resources, and optimize academic programs at the K-12, vocational and technical school, and university levels.