Diane M. Fischer 2005 Distinguished Alumnus

Diane Fischer, Class of 1981, is an International Nuclear Safeguards specialist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). There, Fischer is the Senior Safeguards Analyst for Environmental Sampling. Prior to coming to ORNL, she spent the more than six years at the International Atomic Energy Agency as the Project Manager for the Department of Safeguards' Local and Wide Area Environmental Sampling Program, leading the Agency's Local and Wide Area environmental sampling program and evaluating environmental sample results in Vienna, Austria. While at the agency, she assisted the teams conducting the IAEA inspections for Iraq, Iran and Libya, and organized the first international conference on nuclear forensics. Fischer's primary work at the IAEA was to evaluate and interpret the analytical results from the environmental swipe samples the inspectors would take. Their reports would state if the findings indicated that undeclared activities or materials were present. She also spoke with many international journalists giving them background information on environmental sampling. While at the IAEA, Fischer received the merit award for her hard work surpassing the normal expectations. She began her professional career working for the US Air Force on high energy laser component research and testing. Her second assignment involved nuclear underground weapons effects testing, where she became the first woman named Technical Director of a DOD underground nuclear weapons effects test. Her next assignment took her to the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), a nuclear treaty monitoring organization. While at AFTAC she began working with trace analytical methods to detect nuclear activities and served as an Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty Inspector. Diane has also developed and taught graduate courses the US Air Force Air Command and Staff College. Fischer received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Angelo State University, 1981. She then received a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, 1982.