Battelle director Bill Madia has merged, consolidated and reorganized the firm's Richland operations, he announced Monday.

The changes are designed to position the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for 1997 and decades beyond, he said.

He called the changes a "midcourse correction" to strengthen the science base of PNNL and the Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), which Battelle operates for the U.S. Department of Energy.

The leadership changes, effective Jan. 1, will help link Battelle science to public and private technology needs and aim to help Battelle prosper in an ever-changing national and international economy, Madia said.

Battelle has an annual operating budget in Richland of about $530 million and about 3,800 employees. Its current contract with DOE ends in September, and a five-year extension has been approved and is being negotiated.

"As the Department of Energy's research budget continues to decline - perhaps by 20 percent by the year 2002 - we must broaden our customer base," Madia said.

New customers likely will come from such public agencies as the U.S. Department of Defense or Environmental Protection Agency and from such private industries as chemicals, pharmaceutical and automotive - all of which Battelle now does some business with.

Driving the changes is next fall's opening of EMSL - a $230 million one-of-a-kind laboratory where scientists from around the world will study molecules and how to make them work to benefit mankind.

"In order to meet my objectives of strengthening our science base, linking our science to problems, and then growing, I needed to make these changes well in advance of EMSL's opening," Madia said.

"These changes allow us to hit the ground running when EMSL opens its doors."

These are the changes made by Madia and approved by Doug Olesen, chief executive officer of Battelle's parent company, Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio:

Longtime Battelle executive Gerry Stokes will lead the new Environmental and Health Sciences Division, formerly called the Environmental and Energy Sciences Division. Mike Knotek headed the latter group but is leaving Battelle after not being selected to head the new division.

"Mike has made substantial contributions to Battelle and our laboratory during his seven-year tenure," Madia said.

Stokes has a long track record of scientific management. His association with DOE's Office of Energy Research grew out of his work as chief scientist for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. He joined PNNL in 1978.

Ron Walters will assume a senior-level biosciences position in the newly formed Environmental Safety and Health Division. He will report to Stokes and have two primary responsibilities: building Battelle's health sciences capabilities and developing the lab's technical peer review process.

Judy Mahaffey will continue to lead planning functions for Battelle's health mission and lead the Laboratory's Technical Council. Jeff Saffer's Molecular Biosciences Department will merge into the new EHSD.

Emerging Technologies, which focuses on new markets, missions and technologies, will merge with Strategic Planning under Erik Pearson. The combined organization will retain the Strategic Planning name. Pearson also will support Olesen in corporate planning.

Two changes are directed toward linking Battelle's Richland and Columbus operations with a goal of establishing "One Battelle." They are:

Ken Brog will oversee the 341 employees who work under subcontract to Mason & Hanger at the DOE Pantex plant in Texas, which Battelle supervises. In addition, Brog will assume leadership for the corporate environmental safety and health functions in Columbus. He becomes a Battelle vice president based in Richland.

Tom McClain, Battelle's vice president for corporate communications in Columbus, also will serve as director of communications at PNNL, succeeding Gary Petersen.

Petersen, who assumed that job in 1989, "has decided to look outside Battelle for new opportunities," Madia said. Petersen will be on assignment to Walt Apley for the next few months helping with transition of the Hanford Technical Library to the Consolidated Information Center at Washington State University Tri-Cities in Richland.

McClain will be based in Columbus and spend about half his time in Richland. Jerry Work was asked by Olesen to lead a Battelle-wide assessment of the suitability of building a major information technology business for Battelle Memorial Institute. Work will remain associate laboratory director for the Energy Division, where he will focus on building new business.

"I view this as a team to deal with marketplace realities," Madia said. "The marketplace has changed, and so, too, must we."