The institute opened in 1929 but traces its origins to the 1923 will of Ohio industrialist Gordon Battelle which provided for its creation and his mother Annie Maude Norton Battelle who left the bulk of the family fortune to the institute after her death in 1925.

and manages another 29,500[citation needed] in ten United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.

It reached an $80 million settlement in 1975 (equivalent to $452,987,013 in 2023), used to demolish Union Station, build Battelle Hall at the Columbus Convention Center, refurbish the Ohio Theatre and create Battelle-Darby Creek Metro Park.

[3][4] Battelle serves the following: In addition to its Columbus, Ohio headquarters, Battelle has offices in Aberdeen, Maryland; West Jefferson, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; Arlington, Virginia; Norwell, Massachusetts; Charlottesville, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; and Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

[5] In addition to operating its own research facilities, as of 2022, Battelle managed or co-managed on behalf of the United States Department of Energy the following national laboratories: On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security: Battelle provides funds for a public policy research center at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs of Ohio State University to focus on scholarly questions associated with science and technology policy.