Committee on Setting Priorities for NSF-sponsored Large Research Facility Projects

Committee Membership, Staff, and Biographies

Members

NRC Staff

William Brinkman, Chair, Princeton University

William F. Brinkman [NAS] is currently a Senior Research Physicist in the Physics Department at Princeton University. He retired as Vice President, Research from Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ, on September 30, 2001. In that position his responsibilities included the direction of all research to enable the advancement of the technology underlying Lucent Technologies’ products. Previous to this position he was Physical Sciences Research Vice President and Vice President of Research at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. He received his BS and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Missouri in 1960 and 1965, respectively. He joined Bell Laboratories in 1966 after spending one year as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University. In 1972, he became Head of the Infrared Physics and Electronics Research Department, and in 1974 became the Director of the Chemical Physics Research Laboratory. He held the position of Director of the Physical Research Laboratory from 1981 until moving to Sandia in 1984. He returned to Bell Laboratories in 1987 to become Executive Director of the Physics Research Division. In 1993, he became Physical Sciences Research Vice President, and in January 2000 became Vice President, Research. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served on a number of national committees, including chairmanship of the National Academy of Sciences Physics Survey and their Solid-State Sciences Committee. He served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences. He is past president of the American Physical Society and is currently chairman of the Laboratories Operations Board of the Department of Energy. Dr. Brinkman was the recipient of the 1994 George E. Pake Prize.

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David H. Auston, Kavli Foundation

David Auston [NAS, NAE] is President of the Kavli Foundation and the Kavli Institute in Oxnard, California. His career encompasses a range of experience in industry and higher education. He has been a member of the technical staff and department head at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories (now Lucent Technologies), professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University, Provost of Rice University, and President of Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Auston has contributed to research in the fields of lasers, nonlinear optics, and solid-state materials. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Optical Society of America, and the American Physical Society. A native of Toronto, Canada, David Auston earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering physics and electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Persis Drell, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Persis S. Drell is Professor and Director of Research at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University. She received her BA in Mathematics and Physics from Wellesley College in 1977. She received her Ph.D. in Atomic Physics from University of California, Berkeley in 1983 with a precision measurement of parity violation in atomic thallium. She then switched fields to high-energy experimental physics, and worked as a post-doc with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on the Mark II experiment at SLAC. She joined the faculty of the physics department at Cornell University in 1988, and there her research focused primarily on experiments at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR), an electron-positron colliding beam facility that is located on the Cornell campus. In 2000 she became head of the Cornell High Energy group and in 2001 was named Deputy Director of Cornell’s Laboratory of Nuclear Studies. In 2002, Dr. Drell accepted a position as Professor and Director of Research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University. While at Cornell, Dr. Drell studied charm and bottom quarks in an effort to measure the fundamental parameters of the weak interaction. While on sabbatical in 1998, supported by a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, Dr. Drell formed an ongoing collaboration with several members of the Cornell Astronomy department to perform a critical study of type Ia supernovae and their utility as cosmological distance markers. In addition to the Guggenheim Fellowship, Dr. Drell has been the recipient of an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, and she is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

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Alan Dressler, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution

Alan Dressler [NAS] is an astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution in Pasadena California. He is a member of the scientific staff at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution. Dr. Dressler received a BA in physics at UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. Dr. Dressler is an expert in optical studies of galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and on the large-scale structure of the universe. Dr. Dressler's three main areas of research are (1) the birth and evolution of galaxies; (2) mapping the dark matter distribution through the peculiar motions of galaxies, leading to the discovery of the "Great Attractor;" (3) the properties of massive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Dr. Dressler is also the Principal Investigator of IMACS, a giant wide-field spectrograph for the Magellan 6.5-m telescope. His scientific research is widely recognized and he is very active in public outreach. Dr. Dressler won the American Astronomical Society's Pierce Prize in 1983. He served on the 1991 AASC Panel on Policy Opportunities and the Task Group on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics' Panel on Galaxies and Stellar Systems. He chaired the Optical-IR-Groundbased Panel for the 2001 Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey. In 1996 Dr. Dressler chaired AURA's "HST and Beyond" Committee that called for the building of a next generation space telescope to replace the Hubble; this project, now underway, is now called the James Webb Space Telescope. The Committee's report also led to the creation of the Origins Theme at NASA's Office of Space Science, a program to integrate astronomical research from the formation of galaxies, to planets, stars, and life. For his leadership in space astronomy, he received NASA's Public Service Medal.

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William Friend, Bechtel Group (retired)

William L. Friend [NAE] is Chairman of the University of California's President's Council on the National Laboratories—Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Berkeley. He graduated summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering from Polytechnic University and received an MS degree from the University of Delaware in 1958, also in Chemical Engineering. He retired as executive vice president and director of the Bechtel Group, Inc., in 1998 after 41 years in the international engineering and construction industry. His special interests include process design, systems engineering, environmental impacts, Latin America and engineering education. He was elected a member of the NAE in 1993, and elected Treasurer in April 2001. Friend joined Bechtel in 1977 in Houston in the petroleum and chemical sector. He moved to San Francisco in 1980 and subsequently became a corporate officer, director, group executive vice president and ultimately a member of the Executive Committee of the parent Bechtel Group, Inc. (BGI). He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1996 and retired from BGI's Board at year-end 1998. Before joining Bechtel, Friend had a distinguished career in process engineering and management, including five years (1972-77) as president and chief executive officer of J. F. Pritchard of Kansas City, Missouri, and 15 years (1957-72) with The Lummus Company in worldwide operations resident in Mexico, the Netherlands, and Germany, as well as the United States. Friend currently serves as a member of the NAE’s Committee on the Diversity of the Engineering Workforce and as a member of the National Research Council’s Governing Board. He has served on the Committee on Building a Long-Term Environmental Quality Research and Development Program in the U.S. Department of Energy and NASA's panel on the Space Station (IMCE). Friend is a Director of Bechtel National, Inc., and member of the Board of Consultants of Riggs National Corporation.

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Bruce Hevly, University of Washington

Bruce Hevly is Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Washington. After completing a BA with majors in history and physics at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, he earned a Ph.D. in the Department of History of Science, The Johns Hopkins University, and subsequently spent two years as a postdoctoral scholar in the Program in History and Philosophy of Science at Stanford University, with sponsorship from SLAC. He was laboratory historian, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, from 1985 to 1987, and joined the University of Washington in 1989. His areas of special interest are the history of technology, the history of modern physics (especially terrestrial physics), science-technology relationships, science, technology and the military, and the use of history for science teaching. He is a member of the History of Science Society, the Society for the History of Technology, the British Society for the History of Science, and the American Geophysical Union.

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Wesley T. Huntress, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Wesley Huntress is the director of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory. He was associate administrator for space science at National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters from 1993 to 1998 and director of the Solar System Exploration Division from 1990 to 1992. Before joining the Senior Executive Service, Dr. Huntress had been detailed from the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for two years as special assistant to the director of the Earth Science and Applications Division. Dr. Huntress began his career at JPL in 1968, first as a National Research Council resident associate before joining JPL permanently. Dr. Huntress has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in astrochemistry. He is a member of the NRC Division Committee on Engineering and Physical Sciences. His current professional memberships include the American Astronautical Society (past President), American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences (past Chair), and President of the Planetary Society. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Stanford University.

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Sir Christopher Llewellyn-Smith, University of Oxford

Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith is Senior Research Fellow, and Professor of the Physics Department at the University of Oxford in England. He served as Provost and President of University College London from 1999 to 2002, Director General of CERN from 1994 to 1998, and Chairman of Oxford Physics from 1987 to 1992. He is a theoretical physicist and has worked on a wide range of topics related to particle physics experiments. He has also published, and spoken widely, on aspects of science policy and international scientific collaboration. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1984, and his scientific contributions and leadership have been recognized by awards and honors in seven countries on three continents. He has served on numerous national and international advisory bodies, including ACOST (the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on Science and Technology). After completing a DPhil in theoretical physics in Oxford in 1967, he worked briefly in the Lebedev Institute in Moscow, and then at CERN and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, before returning to Oxford in 1974.

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Lee Magid, University of Tennessee

Linda J. (Lee) Magid is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on physiochemical investigations of micelles and polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions; techniques used include light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, neutron spin-echo spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy. She has served as Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Kentucky and is currently UT's ORNL/SNS Liaison for Science & Technology and the Acting Director of the UT/ORNL Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences. She has a BS in chemistry from Rice University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tennessee. She is a Fellow of AAAS. Currently she is a member of the NRC Board on Physics and Astronomy and serves as vice-chair of the Solid State Sciences Committee. In addition, she serves on the Board on Assessment of NIST Programs' sub-panel on the NIST Center for Neutron Research, and on the U.S. National Committee to the IUPAC. She also served on the Committee on Developing a Federal Materials Strategy.

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Marc Y.E. Pelaez, Newport News Shipbuilding

Marc Y.E. Pelaez is the retired Vice President of Business and Technology Development of Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), the largest private shipyard in the United States. He is a 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He joined NNS after 28 years of service in the U.S. Navy, retiring with the rank of Rear Admiral. His Navy experience was very broad; it included command of the nuclear powered attack submarine USS Sunfish (SSN649) and numerous other operational assignments. He also held significant positions in the Navy acquisition community. Admiral Pelaez’s last assignment in the Navy was as the Chief of Naval Research and managed the science and technology programs of the Navy and Marine Corps with an annual budget of approximately $1.5 billion. Included in his command were the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Research Laboratory and foreign field offices in London and Tokyo. On joining NNS in August 1996, Pelaez served as Vice President of Engineering until he assumed his current position in August 1998. As Vice President of Business and Technology Development, Pelaez reports directly to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Newport News Shipbuilding.

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Robert H. Rutford, University of Texas at Dallas

Robert H. Rutford is Excellence in Education Foundation Chaired Professor in Geosciences and former President of the University of Texas at Dallas. He earned a BA and an MA in Geography from the University of Minnesota. In 1967 he moved to the University of South Dakota as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor, and served as Chairman of the Geology Department from 1969 to 1972. In 1972 he went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to head the Ross Ice Shelf Project, a multi-institutional and international research project in Antarctica. He was also involved in the formation of the Polar Ice Coring Office at Nebraska, a group that focused on ice drilling in both polar regions. In April of 1975 he became the Director of the Division of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and directed the NSF sponsored research in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Dr. Rutford returned to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977 as Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies and professor of Geology, a position he held until becoming President of the University of Texas at Dallas in May 1982. He served there through August of 1994, when he returned to the faculty and was named by the Board of Regents to the chaired professorship he currently holds. Dr. Rutford served as President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) from 1998 to 2002. Dr. Rutford is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Texas Academy of Science. He is a member of the Arctic Institute of North America, the Nebraska Academy of Science, Sigma Xi, and the American Polar Society.

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Joseph Taylor, Princeton University

Joseph Taylor [NAS] is James S. McDonnell Distinguished Professor of Physics at Princeton University. He has been professor of physics since 1980, and dean of the faculty since 1997. He taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, from 1969 to 1980. In 1974 he and a graduate student, Russell A. Hulse, discovered the first binary pulsar using the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. For this discovery and its contribution to understanding gravitation, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993. In 1978 Taylor helped found the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. His research on pulsars confirmed Einstein’s theory of gravitational waves, thus adding to the understanding of the laws governing the universe and giving observational proof of Einstein’s theory of relativity. Dr. Taylor also has received the Dannie Heineman Prize of the American Astronomical Society and American Institute of Physics, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Wolf Prize in Physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society. He was co-chair of the National Research Council’s Decade Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics from 1999 to 2002. He earned his BA degree with honors in physics from Haverford College and his Ph.D. degree in astronomy from Harvard University. Dr. Taylor's group continues to explore problems in astrophysics and gravitational physics by means of radio-wavelength studies of pulsars. Among recent highlights are the discovery of many new pulsars, including millisecond and binary pulsars.

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Michael Telson, University of California

Michael L. Telson is the Director of National Laboratory Affairs for the University of California in its Washington Office of Federal Governmental Relations. He is responsible for managing the Federal regulatory and legislative issues involving the three national laboratories managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) including the Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the U.S. DOE from October of 1997 (after confirmation by the U.S. Senate) through May of 2001. He managed the relationship between the Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), four congressional appropriations subcommittees, DOE’s Inspector General, and the General Accounting Office (GAO). He reported directly to Secretaries Pena, Richardson and Abraham advising them on all financial matters including the preparation and execution of DOE's nearly $20 billion annual budget, as well as reprogramming requests, in all of DOE’s business lines including national security, science, energy and environmental quality. As CFO, he directed a staff of more than 200 also covering a number of other activities including: project management oversight, strategic planning and the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), privatization (including the sale of the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve, the initial public offering of stock in the U.S. Enrichment Corporation, and several environmental management privatization projects), payroll, and financial statement issues. Before the DOE, he served as a senior analyst on the staff of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives. He was responsible for reviewing energy, science, and space issues in the federal budget including the programs of the DOE, the NSF, and NASA, government-wide R&D policy, and certain user fee programs (including FCC spectrum auction issues). He is a member of the Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Etta Kappa Nu. He is a AAAS fellow and received the Meritorious Service, Superior Performance, and Gold Medal for excellence while at the DOE. In 2002, he was named a Senior Fellow of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics. He holds BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, and a MS in management from the Sloan School of Management.

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G. David Tilman, University of Minnesota

G. David Tilman [NAS] is Regents Professor and McKnight University

Presidential Chair in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Ecology and is the Director of Cedar Creek Natural History Area at the University of Minnesota. Tilman was elected to the National Academy of Science for his discoveries of how a varied assemblage of species influences the functioning of ecosystems. He has written two books, edited three books, and published more than 160 scientific papers. He is an experimental and theoretical ecologist interested in biological diversity, in the controls of ecosystem stability and productivity, and in the long-term implications for society of human impacts on global ecosystems. For the past 20 years he has headed the Cedar Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project, one of several National Science Foundation-funded LTERs nationwide. His honors include Guggenheim Fellow, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Pew Scholar in Conservation Biology, the Ecological Society of America's Cooper Award and MacArthur Award and membership in the National Academy of Science. In 2001 he was designated the most highly cited environmental scientist for the decade from 1990 to 2000 by the Institute for Scientific Information, an honor he also received in 2003 for the decade from 1992 to 2002. In 1996 he founded Issues in Ecology to foster communication among ecologists, the public, and governmental decision makers. Among other activities, he has served on a White House science advisory panel (the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Panel of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1997 to 1998), as a Science Advisor for Public Radio International's The World from 1997 to 1998), and on the editorial boards of Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology, Ecological Monographs, The American Naturalist, Acta Oecologia (Paris), International Journal of Plant Sciences, and Limnology and Oceanography. He currently is serving on the NRC Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology.

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