Claude W. Mays, a 1964 graduate of Lynchburg College, has been named the 2008 Richard H. Thornton Scholar.
The Thornton award recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to their fields of expertise. Candidates for the award must have received their degrees at least 20 years ago and are selected by a committee of members from the Lynchburg College chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In addition to being named a Thornton Scholar, Mays was initiated into the College's Phi Kappa Phi chapter.
A native of Amherst County, Mays graduated with a degree in physics following a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. After earning an M.S. in physics from the University of Virginia in 1967, he joined the Nuclear Analysis Group of the Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) as an engineer, initially developing reactor physics models. In 1972 he earned a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from UVa.
During his 40-year career with B&W and its successor companies, Dr. Mays has served as technical lead and program manager for large and small reactor design projects; developed and validated reactor physics computer codes and models and authored several topical reports in this area; served as technical manager of AREVA NP Inc. and its predecessor companies' nuclear physics computer code system; and directed the transfer of reactor-physics technology to several U.S. electric utilities.
Dr. Mays' experience in designing reactor cores runs the gamut from large, commercial, pressurized water reactors to compact reactors for space applications and from maritime reactors to those used to produce medical isotopes. He is particularly knowledgeable in the fields of reactor physics and criticality safety and has conducted workshops for novice and experienced engineers, electric utility engineers, NASA space engineers, and graduate students at UVa.
Since 1995, Dr. Mays has served as advisory engineer for AREVA, developing and validating the criticality-analysis models used in designing the waste containers for the repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. He co-authored the Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report that was submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November 1998 (revised March 2001 and November 2007). He has also contributed substantially to various GEN-IV reactor concepts with potential application for hydrogen and electricity production.
Dr. Mays has been a leader in Central Virginia public education. He served numerous terms on the Amherst County School Board, including several terms as its chair. He helped to found the Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology and has served on its governing and advisory boards. Dr. Mays is well known to generations of budding young scientists through his service as judge for countless science fairs.