Curtis Bruce Tarter (born September 26, 1939) is an American theoretical physicist. He was the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1994-2002. As director emeritus he recently published the first comprehensive history of the laboratory. Early life Tarter was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 26, 1939. He spent the subsequent WW II years with his mother and grandparents in Evanston, Illinois. while his father served in the Army Air Corps in India and China. After the war they returned to Louisville where he attended public schools. Education He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in physics in 1961. He then went to Cornell University where he received a PhD in theoretical astrophysics. His thesis adviser was Ed Salpeter and his thesis research involved both accretion disks and the interaction of X-ray sources and the surrounding environments. Early career After a brief stint at the Aeronutronic Corporation in Newport Beach, California, he joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 1967 where he would spend the remainder of his career. At LLNL he did research in astrophysics and in the fusion and nuclear weapons programs. In particular he became leader of the group involved with radiative properties of matter at high densities and temperatures and their application to various programs. His astrophysical research focused on quasars and X-ray sources, and he collaborated with colleagues at a number of universities and laboratories. Management positions He became the head of the Theoretical Physics Division in 1978, and the deputy head of the Physics Department in 1983. He was a leader in strengthening the ties with the University of California and served on the Long Range Planning Committee that helped set the future direction of the laboratory. In 1988 he was chosen as the associate director for physics where he guided the lab's work in basic physics, space research, climate studies, and exploratory long-range research. Director In 1994 he was selected as director of the laboratory, a position he held for eight years. His first challenge was to ensure the preservation of the laboratory and this was accomplished when President Clinton issued a proclamation stating that all three nuclear laboratories were necessary to maintain US nuclear weapons. Over the next several years he led the laboratory in establishing its post-Cold War program, focusing primarily on science-based stockpile stewardship to replace nuclear testing. This entailed revitalizing the