Dr. Ashley Finan is a global fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy, where she focuses on AI, energy, and national security. She is also a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
Dr. Finan serves as Chief Science Officer for the National and Homeland Security Directorate at Idaho National Laboratory. In this role, she provides scientific and strategic leadership for the directorate’s mission, manages the laboratory directed research and development portfolio, directs the Research Accelerator Department, and oversees the delivery of quality, relevant, and impactful research and development.
Dr. Finan was previously the founding Director of the National Reactor Innovation Center and a Division Director in the Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate at Idaho National Laboratory. In that role, she was responsible for establishing and implementing initiatives, experimental facilities, and test beds to provide resources to reactor innovators to test, demonstrate, and conduct performance assessments to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technology concepts.
Dr. Finan served as founding Executive Director for the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, where she was responsible for managing the organization’s strategy, operations, government affairs, policy and technical development, stakeholder outreach, and fundraising. She provided expert guidance to policymakers, academic teams, industry stakeholders, and NGOs.
Dr. Finan earned her Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her doctoral work focused on energy innovation investment and policy optimization. She has played a key role in studies of the use of advanced nuclear energy in several innovative applications, including hydrogen production, coal to liquids processes, and oil production methods. She has worked as a strategy and engineering consultant, primarily on nuclear energy applications.
Dr. Finan holds an SB degree in Physics as well as SB and SM degrees in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT.
