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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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The transformation of the NRC: 50 years of commissioners
The dust is beginning to settle following the whirlwind of changes at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the past year, and 2025 ultimately may be viewed as a transformative year, as well as the year the NRC celebrated its golden anniversary. The 12 months of that milestone year brought more change to the agency in its composition, its mandate, and its relationship to the executive branch than any comparable period in the preceding four decades.
Now at 51 years and counting, the NRC is working with a full commission and issuing new rulemakings to both regulate and support the next round of nuclear deployments. With the turbulence of 2025 still fresh in our minds, Nuclear News decided it was a good time to revisit the professional backgrounds of all 42 NRC commissioners who have served over the agency’s 50-year history to see how the composition of the commission has evolved over time.
Dr. Larry R. Foulke has been a member of the American Nuclear Society since 1967. He is currently an adjunct full professor who has an earned doctorate in nuclear engineering, PE registration (nuclear) in the State of Pennsylvania, and extensive experience in nuclear science and technology from a 40-year career in the nuclear industry.
Dr. Foulke has held many ANS leadership positions including Chair of the Accreditation Policies and Procedures Committee, Public Policy Committee and PE Exam Committee.
In 2006, Foulke retired from his career assignments at the U.S. Army Nuclear Power Field Office, Westinghouse Nuclear, and the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers coming out as Captain in 1968. Dr. Foulke has been active in the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) serving as Chair of the Technology Accreditation Commission in 1992-93, and member of the Engineering Accreditation Commission. He was made a Fellow of ABET in 1995.
Serving as the founder and director of the Nuclear Engineering Certificate Program at the University of Pittsburgh from 2006 to 2012, he created a series of courses in nuclear engineering for both undergraduate and graduate students. One course in particular entitled, “A Look at Nuclear Science and Technology” reached over 30,000 students in 179 countries in 2013 and 2014.
Dr. Foulke received his BS and MS in Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University and his PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT. He served as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Oslo/Institute for Atomenergi in Norway in 1961-62. Recognized in 2003 by Kansas State University, he was as a Distinguished Member of the College of Engineering Hall of Fame. Dr. Foulke currently resides in Pleasant Hills, PA.
Read Nuclear News from July 2003 for more on Dr. Foulke.
