This site features internal content. Click on this button for the public 90th anniversary site:

Lab Names and Logos

lab names and logos

The Lawrence Lab. Livermore Berkeley Lab. UC Berkeley Lab. The Lab gets called a lot of odd names, but we have to admit, it can be a bit confusing for our friends and neighbors! And in celebration of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 90th anniversary, we wanted to look back at the history of the Lab’s names and logos.

So we smooshed 90 years of history into this short video to help everyone remember who we are and what to call us.

The Radiation Laboratory (1931-1936)

Ernest Orlando Lawrence arrived at the University of California’s Berkeley campus in the summer of 1928 and early in 1929, drew up plans for a unique circular particle accelerator.

On August 26, 1931, UC President Robert Gordon Sproul committed the Civil Engineering Testing Laboratory which featured substantial concrete flooring to accommodate the 27-inch cyclotron with its 80-ton magnet.

Lawrence renamed this building the “Radiation Laboratory,” but, in short time, it became known simply as “the Rad Lab.”

UC Radiation Laboratory (1936-1958)

The addition of physicians and biologists into the Rad Lab’s scientific mix led to the construction of a second building adjacent to the Rad Lab.

Named the Crocker Radiation Laboratory after UC Regent William Crocker who donated the money for its construction, this new facility was designed to house a cyclotron with an accelerating chamber that measured 60 inches in diameter and a magnet that weighed 220 tons.

In 1936, the UC Regents named UC Radiation Laboratory (UCRL) independent in the Physics Department. Papers published by Lawrence and many others also used “Crocker Radiation Laboratory” as their address.

A few years later in 1943, during a period of wartime research, the UCRL split from UC Berkeley and officially became a federal lab funded by the U.S. government. However, the Lab would continue to be managed and operated by the University of California at large - an arrangement that continues to this day.

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (1958-1971)

Less than a month following Lawrence’s death in 1958, the UC Regents voted to rename the Rad Lab as the “Ernest O. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley,” or the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (LRL) for short.

A few years prior in 1952, some of the lead Rad Lab scientists, now under the Atomic Energy Commission, pushed to establish another new facility to continue nuclear research. In 1958, the UC Regents decided to rename the new site “Lawrence Radiation Laboratory-Livermore.”

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1971-1995)

With the Berkeley LRL campus shift to unclassified R&D and rising student activism, in 1971, the two Lawrence Labs became officially distinct from one another so that each could address different scientific challenges.

Livermore became Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and the Berkeley site became known as Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, or LBL.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1995-Present)

As the United States Department of Energy grew its network of national laboratories, it was decided in 1995 to add the word “national” to the name of the Lab to - as Berkeley Lab director Charles V. Shank stated - “highlight the commitment to respond to national needs, a reality that can be lost if not stated.”

And that is how the Lab was renamed to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and adopted the nickname Berkeley Lab.

And though we have not changed our name, the Lab has changed and refined its visual identity and brand over the past 25 years.

The Berkeley Lab logo exemplifies the heritage and strength of our organization. The iconic buildings in our symbol represent the solid foundation on which the Lab is built. Make sure you’re using the correct and most recent versions of the Lab’s iconic logo.

To learn more about the Lab’s history, refer to the following links:

Page updated

Report abuse