Dr. Chris Hegna, a Type One Energy co-founder, has a distinguished background as a faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics and Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, he led the Center for Plasma Theory and Computation for over two decades.

Dr. Hegna's expertise lies in theoretical plasma physics, and he is internationally acknowledged as a specialist in the magnetic confinement of plasmas and nuclear fusion. His academic contributions include authoring or co-authoring over 200 publications and mentoring more than two dozen Ph.D. students at UW-Madison. His academic and professional achievements have been recognized with numerous accolades. He has been honored as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, was a co-recipient of the 2014 John Dawson Award for excellence in plasma physics research, received the Nuclear Fusion Journal Award, and was designated the Harvey P. Spangler of the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. Furthermore, Dr. Hegna has exerted influential community leadership in the international fusion sector, including serving on the DOE’s Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee.