Darrell Roberts '89 was inducted into the Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Society of Distinguished Alumni. Formal recognition of his induction was included in a ceremony and banquet on October 3, 2024.

Roberts has 38 years of professional experience in the United States commercial nuclear industry.  Currently, he is the President and Founder of DeJuRo Consulting, LLC, where he advises several nuclear operating companies on safety, regulatory and operational matters affecting power facilities.

He retired in December 2022 from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission after 33 years with the agency, including the last 15 in the Senior Executive Service in leadership positions at USNRC headquarters in Rockville, MD, and two of the agency’s four regional offices.  In his last position as the Deputy Executive Director for Operations – Reactor and Response Programs (DEDR), Roberts oversaw six key NRC offices: the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, and the four regional offices located in the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas metropolitan areas.  As DEDR, he oversaw the agency’s licensing and oversight programs for 93 operating nuclear reactors located throughout the U.S., as well as the staff’s reviews of new or advanced reactor designs that were either under construction or undergoing design certification.

Roberts also participated in international activities, including in 2005 as a U.S delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Convention on Nuclear Safety and, from 2020-22, as the NRC’s lead representative for the IAEA’s Commission on Safety Standards, which meets semi-annually at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria to oversee the development of international nuclear safety standards, and includes representatives from dozens of countries with nuclear interests.

As a highly respected senior executive at NRC, Roberts mentored dozens of fellow NRC staff and recruited prospective employees at various venues, including the annual National Society of Black Engineers conference and Virginia Tech’s annual Engineering Expo. He has also participated in various STEM activities throughout his career.

He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic and State University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, with an emphasis in nuclear engineering.  In 2006, he earned a Master of Science degree in Technical Management from John Hopkins University.

Roberts has served on Virginia Tech’s Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board since March 2023. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Caracal Products and Services, an MBE-certified company that fills the business and healthcare supply and service needs of large corporations, government agencies and educational institutions in the U.S. and around the world.

Roberts is a brother of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., having joined Virginia Tech’s Eta Lambda chapter in 1987.  He is also founder and content creator for the music blog DJROBBLOG.com, where he has published over 900 articles since the blog’s inception in January 2015.

The ME Society of Distinguished Alumni is an honorary society open to qualified graduates, of the ME Department at Virginia Tech (at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels). The fundamental purpose of the Society is to provide a formal means of recognition of those alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in their careers. A major objective of the Society is to promote greater interaction between ME Alumni and ME faculty, staff, and students.