Tammy Ma
Deputy Principal Associate Director for Science and Technology
Tammy Ma is deputy principal associate director for science and technology for NIF and Photon Science, where she helps lead the directorate’s science and technology strategy in support of stockpile modernization, defense mission objectives and broader national security priorities, including fusion energy. She previously served as founding director of the Livermore Institute for Fusion Technology.
Ma joined LLNL in 2010. In previous roles, Ma led many inertial confinement fusion experiments on NIF, developed new x-ray diagnostics and analysis, and chaired the Lab-Wide Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program funding highly innovative research.
Ma currently serves as a member of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, advising the DOE Office of Science on complex scientific and technological issues related to fusion energy and plasma research. In 2022, Ma chaired the Inertial Fusion Energy Basic Research Needs Workshop on behalf of DOE.
She is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a Stix Award for Outstanding Early Career Contributions to Plasma Research from the American Physical Society, and a DOE Early Career Research Award. Ma earned her B.S. from Caltech and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.
