Dr. Michael J. Pivovaroff became senior advisor for Advanced Technologies Development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in February 2025. Supporting the Chief of Staff, Mike contributes to long-term strategy development and institutional priorities. Reporting to the principal associate director for Engineering, he coordinates Laboratory-wide technical expertise in support of high-impact national security solutions, emphasizing strong partnerships, engineering excellence, and disciplined execution. His portfolio includes leading LLNL’s engagement for Golden Dome for America.

An experimental physicist, Mike has worked in the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory complex for more than 30 years in a range of scientific and leadership roles. He has designed and deployed x-ray detectors for NASA missions, DOE light sources, biomedical applications, and high-energy physics experiments. He has also developed instrumentation and analysis capabilities for the national security space enterprise and partnered with U.S. industry on joint R&D for government sponsors.

Mike has spent most of his career at LLNL, contributing to basic research, national security applications, and the leadership of multi-disciplinary organizations. In 2014, he was named the first leader of the LLNL Director’s Initiative for Space, coordinating and expanding the Lab’s space science and security efforts. This work led to the creation of the Space Science and Security Program in 2016, which he led as inaugural program leader. From 2020 to 2022, Mike served as associate Laboratory director for Technology Innovation at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and he returned to LLNL in 2023 as associate deputy director for Science and Technology.

He remains active in the scientific and academic communities through authorship of over 170 publications and participation in review panels for DOE, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. He was named a senior member of SPIE in 2015 for his contributions to reflective x-ray optics and was selected for LLNL’s Early and Mid-Career Recognition Program in 2017. His additional honors include four NASA awards and a fellowship from the Scowcroft Institute at Texas A&M University.

Mike earned a B.A. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a graduate certificate in national security affairs from Texas A&M University.

PhD, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000

BA, Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1993

Certificate, National Security Affairs, Texas A&M, 2010

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