In 1990 Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT signed a scientist-sharing agreement, which ORNL Director Alvin Trivelpiece characterized as “designed to attract scientists and engineers with rising national stature and reputation.” The scientists were to split time equally between UT and ORNL. The program complemented the Distinguished Scientist Program, already in place, by joining UT and ORNL to hire people at all levels—from post doctorate to assistant professor to full professor—not just scientists already accomplished in their fields. Under the agreement, a scientist held a primary appointment at either UT or ORNL, while the academic department at UT and the research division at ORNL split the scientist’s salary costs. Income from discoveries or inventions made by collaborating scientists was to be shared.
The first two collaborating scientists were Dr. Ted Barnes, a UT physics professor who also worked in ORNL’s physics division, and Dr. Mike Lueze of the engineering physics and math division at ORNL who was affiliated with the UT Computer Science Department. This program also allowed for the appointment of persons from areas such as economics and information science as collaborating scientists.