In case you missed it, Darío Gil, IBM head of IBM research, has been chosen as chair for the National Science Board, which is the broad oversight organization for NSF. Dario is the first executive from the commercial sector to chair NSB in 30 years. The announcement was made  two weeks ago as ISC 2024 was ramping up.

Gil is a familiar face in advanced technology circles having joined IBM in 2003 after earning his Ph.D from MIT and rising to IBM Research Director in 2019. He succeeds Dan Reed. Here’s an excerpt from the official announcement:

“Darío Gil and Victor McCrary will lead the National Science Board (NSB) for the next two years as its respective chair and vice chair. The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 charged the NSB with two roles: governing board of the NSF and advisor to Congress and the President on policy matters related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research and STEM education.

“Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, replaces University of Utah Computer Science Professor and former Microsoft Executive Dan Reed, whose six-year term on the Board ended on May 10. The Board re-elected McCrary, Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of the District of Columbia, to serve a third term as NSB’s vice chair.

“It has been more than 30 years since the NSB had a Chair who was working in industry at the time of his or her election. Prior NSB Chairs working in industry at the time of their election were Mary Good (AlliedSignal), Roland Schmitt (GE), and Lewis Branscomb (IBM). Gil also has the distinction of being one of only three NSB Chairs under 50 at time of election.

““I look forward to working with my colleagues to build bridges across the Federal, business, academia, and philanthropy worlds to renew our commitments to STEM education, workforce development, and to tackling ambitious grand challenges to outpace our greatest strategic competitors,” says Gil. “It is time to join forces across sectors to ensure the long-term success of the United States.”

“For our country to stay competitive – which is crucial to our economic and national security – we need to do much more to develop STEM workers at all levels, from skilled technical workers to advanced degree holders,” says Victor McCrary. “We need plumbers, we need Ph.D.s; we need electricians to electrical engineers to advanced degree holders in every STEM field, and we need an ‘all hands-on deck’ philosophy to create this reality for our nation. NSF is key in developing talent for our national security and for our national security sector.”

The NSB was established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, which created the NSF, states that “The Foundation shall consist of a National Science Board … and a Director.” Jointly the Board and the Director pursue the goals and function of the NSF, including the duty to “recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering.”

In addition, the National Science Board has two important roles. “First, it establishes the policies of NSF within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. In this capacity, the Board identifies issues that are critical to NSF’s future, approves NSF’s strategic budget directions and the annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget, and approves new major programs and awards. The second role of the Board is to serve as an independent body of advisors to both the President and the Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering and education in science and engineering. In addition to major reports, the NSB also publishes occasional policy papers or statements on issues of importance to U.S. science and engineering.”

Last fall Gil and Reed jointly authored an op-ed piece — “Insufficient NSF funding could doom the Chips and Science Act” — published by The Hill warning the U.S. was slipping in critical fields like 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology.  They warned, “This is no surprise. For nearly two decades, the National Science Board’s biennial “Science and Engineering Indicators” has charted the rise of China’s science and technology sector by examining the dimensions that define science and technology leadership — research and development investment, research papers, and workforce development as measured in science and technology graduates. On some of these measures, China has already overtaken the U.S. To retake our lead — or even just stay competitive — the U.S. must redouble its investment in talent, ideas and translation.”

The CHIPS and Science Act, they argued, provides an opportunity to catch up if it was properly funded. About the NSF more broadly, they wrote,  “NSF is America’s ideas agency; it fuels the basic science and engineering research that is the knowledge base of our economic and national security. NSF is America’s impact agency; through its new Technology, Innovations, and Partnerships (TIP) directorate, NSF is ready to bring talent and ideas together to accelerate turning American discoveries into STEM-based industries nationwide. An underfunded NSF holds the nation back. When the U.S. underinvests in discoveries, talent, and translation, we erode America’s ability to invent the future and risk both our economic competitiveness and national security.”

Now they’re on the clock!

Link to NSB announcement, https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=309674