National Science Board Seeks Nominations for Eight Seats

With a third of the seats on the 24-member National Science Board opening next spring, the panel that oversees the U.S. National Science Foundation is looking for ideas of who to fill the vacancies.

“Given the significance of the board’s role … and the vital activities of your own organization in advancing the progress of research and education,” Dan E. Arvizu, the chairman of the National Science Board, wrote in a letter released Thursday, “would be most grateful to have your recommendations for highly qualified individuals to serve on the board.” Arvizu’s day job, so to speak, is as director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Congress in 1950 created the NSB, giving it the responsibility both of overseeing the activities of and establishing policies for National Science Foundation as well as serving as an advisory body to the president and congress on individual policy matters related to science and engineering. The board’s members serve six-year terms and are joined by the NSF’s director, currently astrophysicist France Cordova, as an ex officio member.

Membership on the NSB is not an emeritus honor, but a request to a part of a working advisory panel that requires “considerable time” to fulfill its requirements, said Arvizu. The White House will make the final selection of members, who are formally appointed by the president. The eight terms up for grabs will expire on May 10, 2016.

The Call for Nominations web portal is open and accepting submissions until October 30. Nominations must include a letter of recommendation, the nominee’s biography and CV, and must address certain requirements listed on the NSB website (e.g. a demonstrated record of distinguished service and the potential for further contributions).

The NSB is looking for some topics for representation in the incoming class, including:

• Large/complex facility planning, construction, management and transformation
• International projects and the globalization of research
• Metrics and performance measurement
• Neuroscience and the brain
• Information science and large/complex/novel data and related analytics
• Undergraduate research
• Diversity enhancement
• Social communications and cognitive science and technology
• Science of education and STEM learning
• Biomedical Engineering
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Sustainability, water and global change
• Clean energy and energy security