Dr. Michael Dunne is an expert in the design, construction and operation of a wide range of large-scale research facilities. He has held senior leadership roles in the US and UK in the fields of fusion energy, high-power lasers, and X-ray science.

He is a Professor of Photon Science at Stanford University and an Associate Laboratory Director at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Michael has led the community in the design of laser fusion power plants. He was director for Laser Fusion Energy at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where his role was to develop a comprehensive technology development plan and integrated fusion power plant design to ensure full advantage can be taken of the US National Ignition Facility (NIF). He published an overarching patent for the plant and generated a broad suite of intellectual property through his work leading a multi-institution team over 5 years that included senior representatives from the electric utility industry, policy and regulatory experts, and over 70 vendor partner companies. This work is now being commercialized via his work with Longview Fusion Energy Systems, Inc.

Prior to this he was the international project leader for the European laser fusion project ‘HiPER,’ where he formed a consortium of 26 institutions across 10 countries to develop the case for a fusion power plant in anticipation of the results from the NIF.

Michael is currently the Director of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), a multi-billion-dollar research facility funded by the US Department of Energy. LCLS represents a revolution in X-ray science, delivering X-rays a billion times brighter than can be produced by conventional sources, compressed into ultrafast bursts – typically a few femtoseconds (10-15 s). This opens transformational opportunities for human health, quantum materials, catalytic chemistry, atomic physics, and fusion plasma science.

Michael has served as Director of the UK’s Central Laser Facility, home to a suite of world-leading high-power laser facilities, and as director of the Photon Science Department of the UK’s national funding agency for large-scale science. He currently sits on the governing board of this agency, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

He spent 10 years working for the UK Government at AWE Aldermaston, leading their plasma science research group in support of strategic national security. From there he moved into a position developing the organization’s assessment of the UK’s national technical capability for future nuclear deterrence.

Michael obtained his doctorate in laser fusion and laboratory astrophysics from Imperial College, London. His personal research as part of the Photon Science faculty at Stanford focuses on fusion technology and the development and application of X-ray science across a broad range of research activities.

Michael is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), and is the author of over 150 scientific papers, multiple book and encyclopedia chapters, and many media appearances on TV documentaries, radio, and in the popular press.