When the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) opened its doors 60 years ago, the world was undergoing a profound transformation. After two decades, his vision became TUNL, now a Department of Energy Center of Excellence and one of the longest‑running university‑based nuclear physics programs in the country. The lab is tucked behind the physics building on West Campus, an unassuming concrete structure with subterranean, thick‑walled rooms. Those rooms have borne witness to 60 years of nuclear physics research and countless generations of students learning to work with complex instrumentation. “The shared mission is straightforward — explore the frontiers of nuclear physics while educating the next generation of experimental physicists,” says Calvin R. Howell, professor of physics and TUNL’s interim director.