Member Profile: Dr. Brandon Thorne

• Dr. Brandon Thorne brings more than 20 years of experience in nuclear science, energy systems and related fields to the Universities Space Research Association
• He was previously senior director in the office of the vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Library
• Thorne spoke with Potomac Officers Club to discuss the evolving federal landscape, lessons learned for driving success and how to build a great team

Dr. Brandon Thorne is the senior vice president for energy programs at the Universities Space Research Association, an independent nonprofit research corporation that brings together the work of in-house talent and university-based expertise to advance space science and technology.

Thorne brings more than 20 years of experience in nuclear science, energy systems, policy, aeronautical science and related fields. He has a demonstrated command of complex and interdisciplinary initiatives across academia, government and industry.

Prior to joining URSA, he was senior director in the office of the vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Here he supported the operations and management of a Department of Energy national laboratory. Thorne has also served in leadership roles at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.

Thorne spoke with Potomac Officers Club about the ever-changing federal landscape, lessons learned for driving success and the core values essential to building a great team.

Potomac Officers Club: What can you tell us about your background and how you’ve been able to adapt to the ever-changing challenges of the federal landscape over the course of your career?

Brandon Thorne: Working across a broad range of organizations that span the military, national laboratories and academic institutions, my career has centered on leading complex, mission-driven environments through periods of significant change. I began my federal service in Army aviation, supporting operations across the Middle East, southeast Asia, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific. These experiences shaped my approach to disciplined, people-focused leadership in high-consequence settings.

As I transitioned into the DOE ecosystem, supporting priorities across the National Nuclear Security Administration and its Office of Environmental Management and Office of Science, I learned that sustained mission success depends as much on trust as it does on technical excellence. I have focused intentionally on building durable partnerships, reinforcing a strong culture of integrity, and strengthening governance, safety culture and enterprise risk management in support of federally-sponsored science and high-hazard operations.

Today, as SVP for energy programs at USRA, I lead initiatives at the intersection of nuclear energy innovation, artificial intelligence-enabled energy systems and strategic federal partnerships. A consistent commitment to relationship-building, transparent leadership and delivering with integrity, while keeping mission execution and workforce trust closely aligned, has enabled me to adapt across the federal landscape.

POC: When did you decide to pursue a career in the federal landscape and what were the key tasks that you wanted to complete? Are there any bigger goals you still want to accomplish?

Thorne: My commitment to federal service began in uniform. Supporting global missions made clear how tightly energy security, national security and scientific leadership are connected.

As my career progressed into the DOE ecosystem and federally-funded research environments,

I focused on three priorities:

• Strengthening operational and safety excellence in high-hazard environments
• Modernizing contractor assurance and institutional governance
• Building durable workforce and research pipelines connecting universities, laboratories and mission agencies

Looking ahead, I remain motivated by helping federal science and energy enterprises operate with greater resilience while preparing the next generation of technical and mission leaders. A longer-term goal is to help institutionalize scalable workforce platforms that support the entire federal research and energy enterprise during this period of nuclear renaissance and technological transformation.

POC: What do you believe are your core strengths as a leader and what lessons taught you the most about driving success?

Thorne: I would highlight three core strengths:

• Resilient execution in complex environments
• People-centered and empathetic leadership
• Enterprise risk and systems thinking

Operating in both combat aviation and nuclear research environments reinforced for me that technical rigor alone is not enough. The organizations that sustain performance over time are those where leaders simultaneously create clarity, trust and accountability.

One lesson that has stayed with me throughout my career is simple, but powerful: operational excellence without cultural trust is fragile.

POC: Who are the executives that have inspired you the most over the course of your career?

Thorne: I have been fortunate to learn from a range of senior leaders across the military, the DOE national laboratory system and academic research institutions. Rather than one individual, I have been most influenced by mission-focused executives who could move seamlessly between strategy and execution. The leaders who shaped me most were technically credible, deeply committed to their workforce and comfortable leading in ambiguity. They understood that stewardship and humility matter just as much as performance in federally-sponsored science and national security environments.

POC: If your career came to an end tomorrow, what have been the most significant accomplishments of your career? Where do you feel you made the most impact?

Thorne: I believe my most significant impact has been helping complex organizations strengthen the connective tissue between mission execution, governance, workforce development and research delivery. Across the DOE laboratory system, national security environments and now within my USRA portfolio, I have worked to:

• Improve safety and performance cultures
• Align contractor assurance with enterprise risk insights
• Strengthen collaboration between academia, government and the energy industries
• Support workforce capabilities that sustain federally-sponsored science, innovation and energy sectors

In high-consequence environments, even modest improvements in alignment and visibility can produce outsized mission results. Where I feel most proud is helping organizations move from compliance-driven behaviors toward more resilient and learning-oriented cultures.

POC: How would you describe your management style and core values towards building a winning culture?

Thorne: My philosophy is straightforward: excellence is not an option—it is the standard. However, excellence must be supported by effective and transparent communication, integrity and a leadership approach that ensures every member of the workforce is heard and valued. I work intentionally to build cultures where information flows clearly across the organization, where data informs decisions and where every individual understands their connection to the mission.

I place particular emphasis on creating environments where leaders communicate early, often and with clarity, especially in complex, high-consequence federal settings where misalignment can introduce unnecessary risk. Leadership also carries the responsibility to ensure voices are not overlooked and to deliberately create space for perspectives that may not be at the table.

In complex federal research environments, that disciplined transparency directly strengthens safety, innovation, workforce trust and long-term mission stewardship.

POC: What are the core values essential to building a great team and establishing a foundation to drive success in such a competitive industry?

Thorne: High-performing teams in the federal energy and research enterprise consistently demonstrate:

• Mission clarity
• Technical rigor
• Mutual accountability
• Continuous learning
• Respect for people

Technology and infrastructure are important, but culture remains the true performance multiplier. This is particularly as the energy sector advances through this period of nuclear renaissance and broader technological transformation.

POC: How would you advise someone entering our industry to build their resume and advance their careers to be in the best position in the years to come?

Thorne:

• First, master the fundamentals. Attention to detail, teamwork, safety, quality and disciplined execution remain foundational in this space.
• Second, seek experiences that expose you to national security, government, academia and industry perspectives. The future workforce must be comfortable operating across those boundaries.
• Third, develop a working understanding of how federally-funded research, education pipelines and mission agencies interact.
• Finally, protect your credibility. In the federal ecosystem, trust and reputation compound over time and often become your most important professional assets.

POC: If you were given free reign to enact changes in the federal landscape, what are the first three changes you would implement and why?

Thorne: 

• First, I would accelerate the modernization of contractor assurance systems using AI-enabled analytics to provide earlier risk visibility across safety, operations and business performance.
• Second, I would strengthen and better integrate the federal science, technology, engineering and math workforce development pipeline to ensure we are building talent at scale and aligned to mission needs.
• Third, I would streamline cross-agency collaboration pathways between government, academia and industry to reduce friction and increase mission speed.

Together, these changes would help the federal enterprise remain agile and competitive during this period of rapid energy and technology advancement.

POC: With emerging technology influencing the federal government and industry more by the day, what are some of the challenges on the business side of innovation that aren’t always discussed as often as they should be?

Thorne: One of the most under-discussed challenges is the growing gap between the speed of technological advancement and the pace of institutional and workforce adaptation. We are seeing rapid progress in AI, digital engineering, advanced energy systems and space-adjacent technologies. However, many organizations are still working to align governance models, workforce readiness, acquisition approaches and data transparency practices with that new reality.

Closing that gap, thoughtfully and responsibly, will be critical to sustaining U.S. leadership across energy, science and national security missions in the years ahead.