COLUMBUS, Ohio — Oklo Inc., the California-based nuclear technology company building a 1.2-gigawatt power campus in Piketon, is giving Ohio State University $3 million to launch an undergraduate nuclear engineering major, university leaders announced at an Oct. 9 campus event. Combined with $1.5 million in university matching funds, the $4.5 million package also creates an endowed professorship, funds scholarships and renovates lab space.
Ohio State already offers an undergraduate minor and a graduate program in nuclear engineering, both of which have drawn strong student interest, according to Robert Siston, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The full major still needs approval from the Ohio State Board of Trustees, but the university aims to open it to students in fall 2027.
The investment renames the university’s Nuclear Reactor Laboratory the Oklo Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and creates a new Oklo Experiential Engineering Education Lab inside Scott Laboratory. About $500,000 of the gift comes directly from Oklo chief of staff John Hanson, an Ohio State alumnus, and his wife, along with Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte and his wife, earmarked for two endowed scholarship funds.
Oklo’s Piketon campus in Pike County would deploy as many as 16 small advanced reactors by 2034 to power Meta’s data centers in New Albany, a project the company says needs a growing, Ohio-trained workforce. Hanson told attendees the country is in the midst of a “nuclear renaissance” — and that Ohio is positioned to lead it.
