Angeline Lee became interested in computing and software at a young age, teaching herself BASIC programming on an Atari 800 when her relatives weren’t playing video games. Not long after completing high school, she joined LLNL in an administrative role. “As soon as I arrived and got my hands on computers, I realized technology was a passion and seized every opportunity to get involved with it,” she states.

In her nearly 30-year career, Angeline has supported many areas of LLNL: Engineering, the National Ignition Facility, Livermore Computing, and Weapons Complex & Integration. Today she’s part of Computing’s Applications, Simulation, & Quality Division, where she leads the Weapons Information & Infrastructure Integration group. In addition to overseeing an 11-person group, Angeline implements Agile methodologies for product development and helps the nuclear security enterprise adopt digitally native business processes.

Angeline describes her career as “improving processes through automation and enabling insight through data.” She learned to code while on the job and recently decided to pursue an undergraduate degree with help from the Lab’s Education Assistance Program. She chose a B.S. program in Data Management & Data Analytics from Western Governors University because it is competency based and conducted entirely online.

When deciding to return to school, Angeline notes, “My motivation has always been about data. I’m a practical person who likes to streamline, and in many ways the ‘laziness’ of wanting to automate repetitive tasks got me interested in programming.”

Juggling management tasks and projects alongside coursework is a challenge. Angeline explains, “I have high expectations of myself and others, and this experience is teaching me to be more realistic and cut myself some slack.” When interacting with people who report to her, she realizes, “No one can be perfect all the time.”

Being a group leader has allowed Angeline to pay forward the support she’s received throughout her career. “It’s rewarding to see people doing well or to help them through something they struggle with. When a colleague comes to me for advice, I have better answers for them than I would’ve had before becoming a group leader,” she says.

Beyond the professional and educational opportunities she’s found at the Lab, Angeline has cultivated a passion for LLNL’s mission and an appreciation for interdisciplinary teamwork. “I work with bright, accomplished people who are generous with their time, collaborative, and willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others,” she states. “The combination of people who want to research and those who want to apply it is unique. Here you can see the applications of pure science come to life.”

Angeline advocates for the needs and rights of employees with physical disabilities and looks forward to expanding her advocacy in the future such as with Abilities Champions, an Employee Resource Group that promotes the inclusion of those with physical, psychological, developmental, and neurocognitive differences. Outside of work, she and her husband, also an LLNL employee, have seven grown children between them and two grandkids. Angeline loves the ocean, and ever since they went sailing on an historic schooner off the coast of Maine last summer, she and her husband have been planning to sail the world with their cat, Lilith.

—Holly Auten