New executive at NSB

Michael P. Crosby, a marine biologist, has been selected to become the new executive officer of the National Science Board (NSB), the governing board of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The appointment, effective July 27, will give him overall responsibility for managing the NSB office as well as supporting the board in its policy and oversight initiatives. Crosby, who is currently senior adviser for international science policy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has more than 20 years' experience in research, teaching, management, and policy-setting initiatives. "I personally believe that the research community has an obligation to spend some portion of their career serving the science community in a more administrative and policy kind of position," Crosby told The Scientist. "I know him and was involved in the selection process," said NSB Chairman Warren M. Washington, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "I served on the NOAA Science Advisory Board when he was the executive officer for that board. I believe he's well qualified to carry out the NSB's business and to effectively interface with the NSF management," he said. Crosby's appointment comes at a pivotal time for NSF. Congressional supporters are seeking to double NSF's budget over a 3-year period but other legislators—as well as NSF's own inspector general—have questioned the agency's ability to manage large projects and, by inference, handle a large budget infusion. "Congress has increasingly been putting pressure on the board to increase its various oversight responsibilities," Washington said. "I don't think there's been any major failures. But it's expected that NSF's budget will increase substantially over the next few years and, as part of that governing and oversight responsibility, we need to be sure we are doing our job properly," he said. Gerard Glaser, who had been the NSB's acting executive officer since last July, will transfer to the NSF director's office later this month and assume liaison responsibilities with the NSB. Prior to joining NOAA 12 years ago, Crosby held faculty positions at the Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research at the University of South Carolina, the Department of Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, the Graduate Program at the University of Charleston, and Salisbury State University in Maryland. He has also had science positions with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Cancer Institute. Crosby obtained a Master of Science degree in biology from Old Dominion University and a PhD in marine-estuarine-environmental sciences at the University of Maryland. Crosby is unfazed by the prospect of occupying the hot seat when Congress scrutinizes the activities of NSF and the NSB. "Sometimes you get a lot of attention and it grows in a large scale from those who want to help you. I suppose at the beginning it can seem overwhelming but I don't look at it that way," he said. "I would welcome the attention of Congress and the science and engineering communities. The attention, the scrutiny, and the support are all going to help NSF."

New executive at NSB

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