Alondra Nelson Named to U.S. National Science Board

Sociologist Alondra Nelson, who until last year was deputy (and at times acting) director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and so has been the most senior adviser on social science in the Biden administration, is among eight new appointees President Joseph Biden has named to the National Science Board. The board both governs the National Science Foundation and advises the U.S. federal government on policy matters related to science.

The National Science Board is comprised of 25 members appointed by the president, with the director of the NSF serving as an ex officio member. The members serve six years, with terms staggered so that every two years a third of the membership is appointed. Nelson is the only social or behavioral scientist in the new cohort, and joins psychologist Wanda Ward and international relations scientist Heather Wilson as the only board members with an academic background in social and behavioral sciences.

In addition to her tenure in the Biden administration, Nelson is a past president of the Social Science Research Council and the current Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she leads the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab. Among Nelson’s research interests are the impacts of genetic testing on society, which she explored in an October 2020 Social Science Bites podcast.

The other new members of the board are:

• Yolanda Gil, a fellow and senior director for artificial intelligence and data science strategy at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute, director of AI and data science initiatives in the university’s Viterbi School of Engineering;
• Juan Gilbert, a professor at the University of Florida, chair of the university’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department, and leader of the Computing for Social Good Lab;
• Jeffrey A. Isaacson, president and CEO of Universities Space Research Association; and
• Willie E. May, vice president for research and economic development at Morgan State University and a former undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, who oversaw the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Technical Information Service;
• Joan Ferrini-Mundy, president of the University of Maine, University of Maine at Machias, and vice chancellor for research and innovation for the University of Maine System;
• Sarah O’Donnell, chief engineer of naval programs at the nonprofit MITRE Corporation in its National Security Engineering Center.
• Ryan Panchadsaram, an engineer and investor who worked at Kleiner Perkins and was Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States under President Obama.