Bill Tumas

Bill Tumas serves as Associate Lab Director for Materials/Chem Science & Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he provides overall leadership, management, technical direction, and workforce development for materials, chemical, and computational science capabilities. With over 30 years of experience in national laboratories and industry, Dr. Tumas joined NREL in December 2009 as director of the Chemical and Materials Science Center after spending 17 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Dr. Tumas earned his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Ithaca College and his PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University. His educational background in chemistry forms the foundation for his extensive work in renewable energy research and development.

His research interests span a broad spectrum of renewable energy technologies, with particular focus on photovoltaics and solar energy conversion, electrochemistry, hydrogen production, materials discovery, and energy storage. Dr. Tumas oversees NREL's solar, hydrogen and fuel cells, basic energy sciences, advanced computing, and ARPA-E programs, driving innovation across multiple energy technology domains.

Analysis of his 24 research publications from 2001-2024 reveals a consistent focus on advancing materials science for renewable energy applications, with recent work emphasizing photovoltaics scaling, carbon cycle management, renewable hydrogen, and high-throughput materials discovery. His publications appear in high-impact journals including Nature Reviews Chemistry, Science, and Nature Materials, demonstrating the significance of his contributions to the field.

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Leader of two Energy Frontier Research Centers: Center for Next Generation of Materials Design and Center for Inverse Design
• Significant research impact with multiple highly cited publications

As NREL's laboratory point of contact for the Office of Science's Basic Energy Sciences program, Dr. Tumas manages critical sponsor relationships and program execution. His leadership extends to creating numerous multi-institution and international collaborations that advance renewable energy research globally. Dr. Tumas's work bridges fundamental science with practical applications, addressing some of the most pressing energy challenges of our time.

He leads the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science division at NREL, which serves as a hub for innovative research in renewable energy materials and technologies. Under his direction, the division pursues cutting-edge research that spans from basic science to applied technology development, creating pathways for commercial implementation of advanced energy solutions.