Sudarsanam Suresh Babu

Metallurgy, Materials Science and Advanced Manufacturing Interdisciplinary Research and Education

Ph.D. in metallurgy and materials science, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Master of Technology in industrial metallurgy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
B.E. in metallurgy, PSG College of Technology, India

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu is the Clark Distinguished Chair at the University of Maryland, College Park. He also serves as professor in the department of materials science and engineering.

Babu has been instrumental and part of the local and national leadership in advanced manufacturing institutes to enable research and education on lightweight metals manufacturing, 3D printing and composites. He was the founding director of the NSF Industry–University Cooperative Research Centers program, which focuses on joining and manufacturing, and is leading the Office of Naval Research's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives program on fundamentals of additive manufacturing. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ASM International and American Welding Society.

Babu's career spans basic and applied research in physical metallurgy, advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing, as well as computational materials modeling. He has published more than 230 papers relevant to material science and manufacturing. He is also involved in the application of state-of-the-art characterization tools, including atom probe tomography, synchrotron diffraction and neutron diffraction for understanding materials behavior. In his current role as the director of the Bredesen Center, he is interested in the democratization of science and technology across the country at the intersection of energy, data and computing.

Babu started his career as a research associate in the Institute for Materials Research, Sendai, Japan, and held a senior level technology leader position in the area of engineering and materials at Edison Welding Institute, Columbus, Ohio. He also served as professor of materials science and engineering at The Ohio State University.

He is a member of the NSB class of 2020 – 2026.

Roger Beachy

Plant Biology

Ph.D. in plant pathology, Michigan State University
B.A. in education, Goshen College

Roger Beachy is professor emeritus in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. A plant biologist, his research has focused on plant viruses, gene expression and applications in agricultural biotechnology, leading to the publication of more than 260 papers. Beachy is committed to strong multi- and transdisciplinary research collaborations to increase the impacts of scientific research. He has long been engaged in student training and technology advancement to bring benefits to agriculture in developing economies as well as in the United States.

He joined the University of California, Davis in 2014 as the founding executive director of the World Food Center. Beachy was founding executive director and CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2013 and is emeritus professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis, first joining the faculty in 1978. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Beachy as the first director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, where he served until 2011. Beachy was Scripps Family Chair in Cell Biology at The Scripps Research Institute from 1991-1999 and president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center from 1999-2009.

Beachy is a member of the editorial board for EMBO reports; the Council of Scientific Advisers of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy; the Board of Directors of Supporters of Agriculture Research; the Board of Directors, Performance Plants Inc.; and is chief scientific advisor for Kultevat Inc.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1997) and as foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, India, the Indian National Science Academy and The Third World Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology. Awards include the Wolf Prize in Agriculture from the Wolf Foundation in Israel, the Ruth Allen Award from the American Phytopathological Society, the Dennis Robert Hoagland Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the Commonwealth Award from the Bank of Delaware, among others.

He was appointed to the board in 2014 and reappointed as a member of the class of 2020-2026.

Joan Ferrini-Mundy

Mathematics Education

Ph.D. in mathematics education, University of New Hampshire
M.S. in mathematics, University of New Hampshire
B.S. in mathematics education, University of New Hampshire

Joan Ferrini-Mundy became the 21st president of the University of Maine (UMaine) in July 2018 and since then has introduced changes and efforts to enhance the university's impact in Maine and globally. She is also president of UMaine's regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias and vice chancellor for research and innovation for the University of Maine System.

During her six and a half years as president, Ferrini-Mundy has spearheaded university initiatives as a dedicated advocate for academic excellence, student success and workforce development. Under her leadership, UMaine's research, development and innovation pursuits continue to flourish. In early 2022, UMaine was designated an R1 Carnegie Classification research university, joining the ranks of the nation's top universities engaged in "very high research activity."

Prior to joining the university, Ferrini-Mundy was the chief operating officer for the U.S. National Science Foundation. Her career spans the fields of mathematics education; science, technology, engineering and math education and policy; teacher education; and research administration. She continues her leadership in mathematics education as past chair of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences and a member of the Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics board.

Ferrini-Mundy has numerous awards and recognitions and currently chairs and participates in several groups at the national and state levels. In October 2024, she was appointed to the National Science Board by President Joe Biden after previously serving on the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science. She is chair-elect of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities board of directors. In Maine, she chairs the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board and serves on the boards of Maine & Co. and Maine Public.

She is a member of the NSB class of 2024-2030.

Yolanda Gil

Computer Science

Ph.D. in computer science, Carnegie Mellon University
M.S. in computer science, Carnegie Mellon University

Yolanda Gil is a fellow at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California where she serves as senior director of AI and Data Science Initiatives and director of the Center on Artificial Intelligence for Health. She is also a research professor in computer science and in spatial sciences.

Gil collaborates with scientists in many domains on semantic workflows and metadata capture, social knowledge collection, provenance and trust, task-centered collaboration and automated discovery. In 2019 she co-chaired the CRA/AAAI 20-Year Artificial Intelligence Research Roadmap for the U.S. with key strategic recommendations based on extensive community contributions. She initiated and led the W3C Provenance Group that led to a widely-used standard that provides the foundations for trust on the web.

She is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Cognitive Science Society. She is also fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and served as its 24th President. Gil is the first computer scientist to receive the Geological Society of America’s M. Lee Allison Award for Outstanding Contributions to Geoinformatics and Data Science.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.

Juan E. Gilbert

Computer Science

Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati
M.S. in Computer Science, University of Cincinnati
B.S. in Applied Science, Miami University

Juan E. Gilbert is the Andrew Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor, UF Distinguished Professor and chair of the computer & information science & engineering department at the University of Florida where he leads the Computing for Social Good Lab.

Gilbert has research projects in election security, usability and accessibility; advanced learning technologies, usability and accessibility; brain-computer Interfaces; human-centered AI/machine learning and ethnocomputing. He has published more than 250 articles, given more than 250 talks and obtained more than $30 million dollars in research funding. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, IEEE, the American Association of the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Inventors.

In 2012, Dr. Gilbert received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from President Barack Obama. In 2023, Gilbert was named a laureate of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Joe Biden for pioneering and championing universal design in elections technology to make voting accessible for everyone and increasing diversity in the computer science workforce. He also received the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2014 Mentor Award as well as numerous other awards and honors. Gilbert has testified before congress on the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act of 2008 and the U.S. House Committee on Administration for the “2020 Election Security – Perspectives from Voting System Vendors and Experts”

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.

Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska

Geodetic Science, Geomatic Engineering

Ph.D. in Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University
M.S. in Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University
M.S. in Surveying Engineering and Land Management Systems, University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland

Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska became vice chancellor for research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on September 1, 2024.

She previously served as a distinguished university professor, Lowber B. Strange Endowed Chair and professor in the department of civil, environmental and geodetic engineering at The Ohio State University. She was Vice President for Knowledge Enterprise in The Ohio State University Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge and co-directed the Satellite Positioning and Inertial Navigation Laboratory.

Brzezinska's research interests cover GPS and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) algorithms, GNSS/inertial and other sensor integration for navigation in GNSS-challenged environments, sensors and algorithms for indoor and personal navigation, image-based navigation using artificial intelligence methods, and mobile mapping.

Brzezinska is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and elected fellow of the Institute of Navigation, the Royal Institute of Navigation, the International Association of Geodesy and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She received the 2016 Institute of Navigation’s Johannes Kepler Award, the 2005 Institute of Navigation’s Thomas Thurlow Award, the 2005 and 2015 United States Geospatial Information Foundation Academic Research Award, the 2018 International Association of the Institutes of Navigation John Harrison Award and the 2023 IEEE Richard B. Kershner Award.

Brzezinska served as president of the Institute of Navigation from 2015-2017, and president of the International Association of Geodesy Commission 4, Positioning and Applications from 2011 – 2015. She currently serves as principal investigator for the NSF Engineering Research Visioning Alliance and is a member of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board. She previously served on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 – 2028.

Melvyn Huff

Mathematics

PhD. In Mathematics, Northwestern
M.A. in Mathematics, Northwestern
B.S. in Science Engineering, Northwestern

Melvyn Huff is an assistant teaching professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. He received a bachelor of science engineering, a master of arts in mathematics and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Northwestern University.

Before joining the faculty of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, he was the Benjamin Pierce Instructor at Harvard, and an assistant professor at Tufts University. He also worked in private industry for several corporations, including MathSoft PTC and Scientific.

Huff has developed new methods of teaching basic and advanced calculus with a central focus on individual contact with students. His publications have covered various aspects of confidence measure, synthetic aperture radar and data tracking.

Huff is a member of the American Mathematical Society.

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2020-2026.

Jeffrey Isaacson

Physics

Ph.D. in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S.E. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University
B.S. in Nuclear Engineering, Columbia University

Dr. Isaacson is CEO emeritus of Universities Space Research Association (USRA). USRA operates in association with 121 leading universities in the areas of science, technology, workforce development and facility management. USRA was founded in 1969 by NASA and the National Academy of Sciences.

Prior to joining USRA, Isaacson held executive positions in various organizations. He served as vice president for defense systems and assessments at Sandia National Laboratories, vice president and director of the Army Research Division at RAND, chief system engineer for the Space Based Infrared System-High at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, and vice president and director of the National Security Research Division at RAND.

Isaacson served 25 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring as captain. He is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and a former member of the Army Science Board.

Isaacson is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024 - 2030.

Matthew Malkan

Astronomy

Ph.D. in Astronomy, California Institute of Technology
C.P.G.S. in Physics, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
M.A. in Physics, Harvard University
B.A. in Astronomy, Harvard University

Matthew A. Malkan is currently a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles. He makes multi-wavelength observations across the electromagnetic spectrum and measures very distant galaxies and how they have evolved across cosmic time, including the build-up of their stars, their heavy elements and their giant black holes. He has authored or co-authored 500 articles in scientific journals.

Malkan is a frequent scientific reviewer for NSF, NASA and other international agencies, including competitions for prize fellowships and observing time with ground- and space-based telescopes. He is active in science outreach, including work in local K-12 schools, film projects and programs for radio and television.

Malkan served as a vice president in the International Astronomical Union from 2015-2019. He received a Presidential Young Investigator Award and has been an international visiting scholar sponsored by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Fundacion Mexico Estados-Unidos para la Ciencia.

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2020-2026.

Willie E. May

Chemistry

Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park
B.S. in Chemistry, Knoxville College

Willie E. May serves as vice president for research and economic development at Morgan State University where he has been working aggressively to increase the quality and quantity research outputs, facilitate increased entrepreneurship and tech transfer and better connect research across Maryland’s preeminent public urban research university to community needs.

He previously served as the Senate-confirmed Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. In this role, May provided high-level oversight and day-to-day leadership for the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). He began his career as a bench chemist at NIST/NTIS and went on to work at every management level within the organization. His personal research activities were focused on the areas of trace organic analytical chemistry and the determination of physico-chemical properties of organic compounds, and his work is described in more than 100 peer-reviewed technical publications.

May served as 2024 President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is a member of the board of directors for Consumer Reports, a member of the board of visitors for the University of Maryland College Park’s College of Computer, Math and Natural Sciences, and a member of Google’s Public Sector Research Technology Board. He has previously served in numerous other leadership positions including vice president of the International Committee on Weights and Measures and president of the Consultative Committee on Metrology in Chemistry and Biology.

May has been awarded numerous awards and honors, including the American Chemical Society’s Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry Award and the American Chemical Society’s Public Service Award. In 2015, he was recognized as the federal government’s “Top Chemist” by Chemical and Engineering News Magazine and in 2016, as the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s “Laboratory Director of the Year.” May is an honorary fellow of both the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.

Sarah O’Donnell

Engineering and Applied Physics

M.S. in Engineering Physics, University of Virginia
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Virginia

O’Donnell currently serves as Naval Division Distinguished Chief Engineer at the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) administered by the MITRE Corporation. She specializes in providing technical options to resolve complex, emergent mission problems to achieve strategic advantage against adversaries to mitigate risk for the U.S., its allies and coalition partner operations. Previously, she served as the Director for NSEC’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) Program. In this capacity, she developed and led initiatives that provided solutions for programs operating at the seams of the intelligence, military and civilian communities and at the convergence of armed forces, foreign relations war and national defense authorities.

Prior to her work leading national security programs, she led experimental and theoretical work in condensed matter physics related to nanostructured electronic materials including collaborative experimental work on novel optical switching and the improvement of quantum energy conversion for power and energy prototypes. Early in her career, she worked as a mechanical engineer at Orbital Sciences Corporation in the Advanced Programs Group, focusing on thermal protection systems and hypersonic sensing.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.

Ryan Panchadsaram

B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley

Ryan Panchadsaram is an engineer and investor dedicated to building the industries of the future. He has held senior positions in both business and government and has served on the boards of companies and non-profits across the healthcare, climate and technology sectors. At Kleiner Perkins, he is the technical advisor to the chair, John Doerr. Through Doerr’s family office, he invests in groundbreaking technologies such as fusion energy, synthetic biology and AI. Panchadsaram and Doerr co-authored "Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now" and collaborated on the number one bestseller "Measure What Matters."

During the Obama-Biden Administration, Panchadsaram served as a deputy chief technology officer of the United States in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he championed entrepreneurship, innovation and open data. He played a key role in leading the turnaround of HealthCare.gov, which provided healthcare coverage to over 21 million Americans. He also helped launch the United States Digital Service, a White House unit that recruits top technologists to serve in government. Earlier in his career, Panchadsaram held roles at Microsoft and Salesforce.

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.

Julia M. Phillips

Materials Research

B. S. in Physics, College of William and Mary, 1976
M.S. in Applied Physics, Yale University, 1977
Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Yale University, 1981

Julia M. Phillips retired in 2015 from Sandia National Laboratories after nearly 20 years. She culminated her Sandia career by serving as vice president and chief technology officer, when she led the laboratory’s internally funded research and development program, research strategy and intellectual property protection and deployment. Other positions at Sandia included director of nuclear weapons science and technology programs; director of the Physical, Chemical and Nano Sciences Center; and director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. Prior to her time at Sandia, she spent 14 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories where she performed leading edge research in thin film epitaxial electronic materials and complex oxides.

Phillips is a member and home secretary of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Materials Research Society (MRS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Physical Society (APS). She has served on the NAE council and AAAS board of directors, currently chairs the APS Panel on Public Affairs, and is past chair of the APS Topical Group on Energy Research and Applications and the APS Division of Condensed Matter Physics. She also served as president of the MRS.

In 2008 Phillips received the George E. Pake Prize from APS “for her leadership and pioneering research in materials physics for industrial and national security applications.” She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Materials Research, Journal of Applied Physics, and Applied Physics Reviews. She has edited books, written book chapters and authored more than 100 journal publications, 12 major review articles, and 45 refereed conference proceedings publications. She also holds five patents.

Phillips was a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2016-2022 and was reappointed to the class of 2022-2028.

Marvi Matos Rodriguez

Aerospace, Engineering and Business Management, Chemical Engineering

Executive M.B.A in Business Administration, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
M.S. in Colloids, Polymers and Surfaces, Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico

Marvi Matos Rodriguez is the Director of Engineering in Mobility & Surveillance for the P-8 Air Vehicle Integrated Product Team at Boeing.

Matos Rodriguez joined Boeing as a scientist and engineer in 2010. She has led the development and qualification of novel super alloys, thermal protection systems and advanced manufacturing technologies. She has supported rocket launches and rocket engine qualification work.

At Boeing, she has served as the Thin Films research team lead, Manufacturing Engineering manager, Research and Technology manager and director of Chemical Technologies, Metals and Ceramics. Matos Rodriguez took on a position with Blue Origin in 2017, where she led the newly formed materials and processes group and later served as director for the crew capsule team in the New Shepard Program. She moved back to Boeing and led the establishment of design practices as director of engineering, building the tools, processes, and content integration for engineering knowledge, serving more than fifty thousand engineers across the enterprise.

For her work, Rodriguez was the recipient of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Innovator STAR Award, the Great Minds in STEM Professional Achievement Award and the Business of Pride: Outstanding Voices Award. She also received a proclamation by the Municipality of Jayuya in Puerto Rico, her hometown, as Role Model Citizen and Ambassador in Science and Technology.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 - 2028.

Scott Stanley

Mechanical Engineering

M.S.M.E and B.S.M.E. in Engineering, Loyola Marymount University

Scott Stanley is vice president of technology for Techno Planet, an aerospace engineering firm he co-founded in 2008. Previously he held senior roles at Hughes Aircraft, Schaeffer Magnetics, Moog and Alliance Spacesystems. Stanley is a recognized industry expert in the development and manufacture of spacecraft mechanisms for orbital and planetary applications, and drills and sample acquisition systems focused on Mars and the Moon. He has been a NASA principal investigator for planetary robotic drilling, coring and sample handling development projects.

He also has extensive experience in developing mechanisms, actuators and electromechanical systems for aircraft, ships and ground-based applications. His career has included stints with government and large, medium, and small commercial firms, with the last 25 years focusing on entrepreneurial efforts.

He is helping develop the next generation of mechanical engineers through sponsored joint development projects between Techno Planet and Loyola Marymount University.

Stanley is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2020-2026.

Keivan Stassun

Astronomy

Ph.D. in Astronomy, University of Wisconsin – Madison
B.A. in Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley

Keivan Stassun holds the Stevenson chair in physics & astronomy at Vanderbilt University, where he also serves as director of the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation.

His research on stars and exoplanets, with an emphasis on developing new data-driven methods for making precise measurements of the fundamental physical properties of stars and planets, has appeared in more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles. Having trained more than 50 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars from diverse backgrounds, Stassun is a leader and advocate for broadening participation in STEM, especially of underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities.

He received an NSF CAREER award, a Cottrell Scholar award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor Award and a Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship from the National Academies. Stassun is also an elected fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Astronomical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He has served on NSF’s Committee for Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, chaired the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on Minorities, is a recipient of the American Physical Society’s Nicholson Medal for Human Outreach, has been named Mentor of the Year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been honored with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 - 2028.

Merlin Theodore

Material Science Engineering

Ph.D. in Material Science & Engineering, Tuskegee University

Merlin Theodore is a group leader for the Advanced Fibers Manufacturing Group in the Manufacturing Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

She guides material research at two Department of Energy National User Facilities, the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. In her role, she helps industry overcome the barriers associated with advanced fibers manufacturing. Her efforts allow technologies to advance from the research and development stage to validation and deployment.

Theodore has more than 13 years of experience in carbon-based composites from the lab scale to commercialization. She has served in numerous leadership positions in government agencies, industry and academia. Theodore is head of excellence at SGL Automotive Carbon Fiber LLC in Moses Lake, Washington, a research scientist and technical advisor for the Minority Leaders Program at Universal Technology Corporation co-located at Wright-Patterson Airforce Base in Dayton, Ohio, and research faculty at Georgia Tech University.

Theodore has contributed to over 30 publications. She led the filter media initiative for a supply chain of N95 masks needed in the fight against COVID-19 to support the production of filter media for one million masks, three million surgical masks, and half a million N95 face masks per day, in addition to creating more than1,500 jobs in the state of Florida.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 - 2028.

Wanda Ward

Public Engagement, Behavioral Science

Ph.D. in Psychology, Stanford University
B.A. in Psychology, Princeton University
Certificate in Afro-American Studies, Princeton University

Since 2021, Wanda E. Ward has served as executive associate chancellor for the Office of the Chancellor – Public Engagement at the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign. She provides strategic leadership for the university and broader community to advance the university's land-grant and public engagement missions. She joined the university in 2018 as the executive associate chancellor for administration and university relations, where she served as chief of staff to the chancellor.

Prior to joining the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, Ward served in several senior leadership positions over 26 years at the U.S. National Science Foundation. In addition, she has served as assistant director for broadening participation at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House Executive Office of the President. She has also served on the U.S. President's National Science and Technology Council subcommittees and interagency working groups in the areas of the social, behavioral and economic sciences, and science education and workforce development. At the international level, she served as a member of the International Social Science Council Executive Committee for Developing and Transition Economies.

At the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, Ward chaired the COVID-19 Return to On-Campus Operations: Community and Public Engagement Committee, co-chaired the Call to Action to Address Racism and Social Injustice: Community Action and Public Engagement Committee and co-chaired the university’s COVID-19 community engagement initiative.

She was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship, the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation, the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Richard T. Louttit Award and the U.S. Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive. Ward was selected as a Fellow in the 2018-2019 University of Illinois System President’s Executive Leadership Program.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 - 2028.

Bevlee Watford

Engineering Education

Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Virginia Tech
M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Virginia Tech
B.S. in Mining Engineering, Virginia Tech

Bevlee Watford, P.E. is emeritus professor of engineering education, associate dean for equity and engagement, and the founding executive director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity for the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Watford started her career as an assistant professor at Clemson University. She moved back to her alma matter in 1992 and became the founding executive director of the Center and an associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She earned her current rank of professor of engineering education in 2005. From 2005 – 2007 and from 2013 – 2015 she joined the U.S. National Science Foundation in roles focused on education.

As associate dean for equity and Engagement at Virginia Tech, Watford has secured more than $17 million for the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity and other undergraduate initiatives. Her research focuses on the recruitment and retention of students in engineering, with a particular emphasis on under-represented students. Under her guidance, the center supports freshmen peer mentoring, a summer bridge for incoming freshman and residential living-learning communities that house nearly 600 freshman engineering students.

Watford was the president of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network from 2004 – 2005 and received the Women in Engineering ProActive Network Founders Award in 2008 for her service and her efforts to increase the participation of women in the engineering profession. An active member of the American Society for Engineering Education since 1986, Watford has served the organization in several capacities. In 2010, she was elected as a fellow of the organization and served as its president for the 2017-2018 year.

She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2022 – 2028.

Heather Wilson

Ph.D. in International Relations, Oxford University
M.S. in International Relations, Oxford University 
B.S. Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Air Force Academy

Dr. Heather Wilson is the president of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a large public research university that serves a student body that is over 90% minorities. Dr. Wilson came to UTEP after serving as secretary of the United States Air Force where she oversaw the development of a new science and technology strategy for the Air Force.

Wilson is the former president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, an engineering and science research university in Rapid City, South Dakota. She represented New Mexico in the United States Congress for ten years serving on the House Energy and Commerce, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Before serving in Congress, Wilson worked in the private sector, serving as a senior adviser to defense and scientific industry and as president of Keystone International, a company she founded that conducted business development and program planning work. She has also served on the boards of two publicly traded companies.

Wilson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in the third class to admit women and earned her masters and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar. She received the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award in 2019 and the National Intelligence Superior Public Service Award in 2009. She is an instrument-rated private pilot and member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Dr. Wilson has authored one book and over 40 articles, columns, and other publications.

Wilson is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2020 – 2026.