In 1946, the University of Chicago opened the doors to Argonne National Laboratory, becoming the nation's first laboratory chartered to conduct peaceful atomic energy research. Born from the scientific breakthroughs of the Manhattan Project, Argonne's founders recognized that the same atomic power that ended a war could also transform society through clean energy, medical advances, and unprecedented scientific discovery. Over the next 75 years, the laboratory evolved from a singular focus on nuclear physics into a multidisciplinary research powerhouse tackling humanity's greatest challenges.
Today, Argonne stands as one of the world's preeminent scientific destinations, where "dream teams" of world-class researchers collaborate across disciplines to develop solutions in energy storage, climate science, national security, and computational discovery. From pioneering America's first nuclear reactors to designing next-generation batteries that power electric vehicles, from probing the fundamental building blocks of matter to harnessing supercomputing and artificial intelligence for breakthrough discoveries, Argonne's work continues to push the boundaries of what's possible. With over 3,400 employees and state-of-the-art user facilities like the Advanced Photon Source and Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, the laboratory delivers innovations that strengthen our nation's energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic competitiveness.