Mark C. Petri is the Director of the Electric Power Grid Program. He is responsible for coordinating the laboratory’s large and multidisciplinary activities to improve the reliability, resiliency, security, and efficiency of the nation’s electric power grids.

Prior to rejoining Argonne, Petri was Director of the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute, a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence that conducts research and education to enhance the resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructures. He was also Director of the Iowa Energy Center, which supports economic development, environmental sustainability, and social well-being in Iowa through energy innovation, education, and entrepreneurship.

Petri was formerly the Technology Development Director within Argonne National Laboratory’s Energy Engineering and Systems Analysis Directorate, where he developed and coordinated multidisciplinary applied and basic research programs aimed at sustainable energy production, transmission, and efficiency. The work included research on a wide range of alternative energy sources and power grid modeling and simulation. Petri received his Ph.D. from Purdue University through the School of Materials Science and Engineering. From 2007 to 2008 Petri served as Science and Technology Advisor to Illinois Senator Richard J. Durbin in Washington, D.C., where he focused on energy and environmental issues.