After decades of service, not many employees can say they are working at the place they started at after high school, but Susan B. of Global Security and Strategic Partnerships can. She’ll soon be celebrating 50 years between K-25 and Y-12.
If you look closely, you’ll see frogs throughout Susan B.’s office. “One of my first supervisors gave me a frog that would hold phone messages in its mouth,” she said. “Since then, whenever anyone would bring me something, it was a frog.” The tradition continues as a coworker recently brought her a frog from Japan.
The Y‑12er spotlight shines on one of our own. It takes all Y‑12 employees to make the mission happen successfully and safely. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.
“I started working at K-25 in October 1976. I was hired as a stenographer [a person who took shorthand], thinking I was going to be a secretary forever,” Susan smiled. “After several months of typing letters, answering phones, and taking messages, I decided being a secretary wasn’t for me (even though that was what my mother did her entire career). I did accomplish the goal of working at one of the Oak Ridge sites, like my dad who worked at and retired from Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL).”
When she graduated from Powell High School, she hadn’t considered going to college, but Union Carbide, the management and operating contractor of the three Oak Ridge sites at the time, offered educational assistance.
“It was the perfect chance for me to go to UT at night while I worked full-time during the day. UT was on a quarter system then, and it took me 10 years to complete my bachelor’s degree. But, I did it,” she said.
After working several more years, her manager at the time suggested she go back and get her MBA.
“I decided to do it,” she said. “It was in the early days of online educational programs. Employees from all three sites [K-25, Y-12, and ORNL] along with Department of Energy (DOE) employees met in Oak Ridge. We had a virtual class and watched/listened from television to the professor and other students based at UT Martin,” Susan said. “I finished my MBA in 18 months.”
In her daily work with Global Security and Strategic Partnerships (GSSP), an organization she’s been in since its inception, she is responsible for performance reporting and is the program manager for the work Y-12 does for other DOE labs and sites. She oversees all things related to business management for GSSP, including tracking and reporting on the more than 12,000 deliverables for FY26, as well as regularly providing coverage for her senior director when he is on travel.
At K-25, Susan started in what was called the assignment pool in Human Resources and then moved into Training. After about 10 years, she bid on a job in the organization that was the precursor to the current GSSP. Eventually, that K-25 organization was transferred to Y-12.
“It’s amazing how technology has changed during my time,” she said. “We were just starting to use computers, and my daily tools were the typewriter and carbon paper. Everything technology-related at work has been a big improvement.”
Her manager, Martin Williamson, said, “It is impossible to overstate Susan’s impact on the GSSP since the program’s launch in the 1990s. Her exceptional expertise, accountability, mentorship, and warmth are instrumental to our team’s success.”
What has surprised you during your time at Y-12?
The changes in technology and automation. So many things have changed from the ways we used to do things. Technology has definitely helped my organization skills, too!
How do you and your organization help meet the mission?
From ensuring global security to fueling naval reactors to working with strategic partnerships, GSSP contributes significantly to the Y-12 mission. I have a broad depth of knowledge of GSSP since it’s where I’ve spent most of my career.
Why is teamwork an important aspect at Y-12?
Teamwork is required at Y-12. I’m fortunate to work with people on the GSSP team daily, but I also interact with individuals in most other Y-12 organizations. My job also requires that I interface with individuals from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 Field Office; NNSA Headquarters; other labs, plants, and sites; and Strategic Partnership Projects sponsors. We have to work together as a team to accomplish the task. Another benefit of teamwork is that it allows you to learn about things outside of your specific job and to see how all the pieces fit together.
What is your favorite aspect about your work environment?
I enjoy the variety of the type of scope my organization performs. To me, we’re one of the coolest organizations around because we get to deal with such interesting work, some of which no one knows about until after it is said and done. The broadness of our work scope touches on all areas of Y-12.
What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
Traveling and camping. I just returned from Greece, and a few years ago, I bought a truck and a camper. My work organization skills have factored into my camping. I created a checklist to make sure I do all tasks each time I pull the camper!