Brenda L. Hawks is currently serving as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety, Security, and Quality Assurance for Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Oversight. Hawks is the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Oversight/Chief of Nuclear Safety for Safety, Security, and Quality Assurance Office. She has over 36 years of professional experience in nuclear operations, safety analysis, quality assurance, criticality safety, software quality assurance, and performance assessments. Hawks has served as the Oak Ridge Environmental Management Senior Technical Advisor, Engineering Division director and the Quality Division director. She holds two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in chemical engineering and one in polymer chemistry, and she holds a Master of Science  in Polymer Chemistry, with a minor in Chemical Engineering. 

Hawks spent two years as part of the senior staff at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Uranium Processing Project at the Y-12 National Security Complex. She requalified as an NNSA senior technical safety manager while at the project, and she was responsible for various technical areas, including Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board interface, safety basis, criticality safety, fire protection, and quality assurance. Hawks holds additional Department of Energy technical qualifications/certifications for criticality safety, quality assurance, safety software quality assurance, safety system oversight, chemical processing, and nuclear safety systems.

When Hawks joined DOE in 1995, she qualified as a facility representative for enriched uranium operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The first nine years of Hawks’ federal career was spent with the U.S. Department of Defense at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. During this time, her qualifications/certifications included chief refueling engineer on two different reactor plants, radiological engineer, quality control technical work document preparer/ reviewer/approver, radiation worker, and environmental engineer. Hawks is certified by EM headquarters and Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management as an American Society of Mechanical Engineers Nuclear Quality Assurance-1 lead auditor certification.