Fireside Chat

Dr. Darío Gil 

Dr. Darío Gil is Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy. His office is the nation’s largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences, supporting all 17 National Laboratories of the United States, and responsible for programs including advanced computing, fusion, nuclear and high energy particle physics, basic energy sciences, and biological and environmental research. He is the department’s principal advisor on science and technology.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Darío Gil was IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, where he was responsible for one of the world’s largest and most influential corporate research labs. 

Dr. Gil was elected to the National Academy of Engineering “for his contributions to artificial intelligence and quantum computing” and is a globally recognized leader of the quantum industry. Under his leadership, IBM was the first company in the world to build programmable quantum computers and make them universally available through the cloud. 

Dr. Gil is an inventor and an institutional innovator, the force behind the creation of the International Science Reserve, the AI Alliance, the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium. 

Dr. Gil has served on the President’s Council of Science and Technology Advisors (PCAST) and on the National Science Board (NSB), where he was first member from industry to be elected chairman in 30 years. He has served on numerous boards including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the New York Academy of Sciences, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the New York Hall of Science, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). 

Dr. Gil is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. 

Deb Gracio

Deborah (Deb) Gracio is the Director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She leads PNNL in unifying fundamental research for national impact while advancing innovations to address the world’s most pressing challenges in science, energy, and national security. Gracio provides the vision, strategic direction, and oversight for PNNL’s $1.6 billion R&D budget and 6,400 staff.     

With more than 35 years at PNNL, Gracio began her career as a researcher supporting DOE Office of Science programs, helping launch two DOE Office of Science national user facilities and advancing computational capabilities for scientific discovery. She pioneered instrumentation, computational models, software, and data-intensive methodologies that advanced the use of data sciences across multiple scientific and national security domains.

She went on to hold multiple leadership roles in PNNL’s National Security Directorate, including associate laboratory director, where she led a broad suite of national security programs and partnerships serving the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Intelligence Community.

An internationally recognized leader, Gracio is a fellow of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and an active board member for numerous academic, business, and community organizations. DOE has honored her with a Certificate of Accomplishment for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program and an Outstanding Woman in Engineering award.

Gracio received her M.S. and B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University.