National Science Foundation Personnel Announcement
NSF PA 98-2 - April 28, 1998
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NSF Names New Engineering Head
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named technologist
and academic Eugene Wong of Berkeley to head its engineering
directorate. Wong is scheduled to assume his new position
as NSF's assistant director for engineering in June.
Wong is a pioneering researcher in database management
systems. He was co-designer of INGRES, one of the
first modern database systems. He then co-founded
INGRES Corporation, which became a leading commercial
provider of database software. He is currently chief
scientist and member of the board of directors of
Vision Software Tools, Inc., a start-up company based
in Oakland, Calif. which produces software products
for automating business processes. He is also Emeritus
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
at the University of California-Berkeley.
At Berkeley, Wong served as Chairman of the Department
of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and
helped that department become one of the highest ranked
in its field. He has been a founder of several enterprises
that supported Internet applications and contributed
significantly to the growth of the Internet both here
and abroad.
From 1990-1993, Wong served as Associate Director
for the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy where he was responsible for Physical Sciences,
Engineering and Industrial Technology.
Wong received his B.S. degree, his A.M. degree and
his Ph.D., all in electrical engineering, from Princeton
University. He is a member and councilor of the National
Academy of Engineering and a Fellow at the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
As head of NSF's engineering directorate, Wong will
manage a budget of approximately $320 million annually.
Wong is the fourth person to be named to this position
since the directorate was created in 1983. His selection
followed a national search chaired by UC Santa Barbara
Chancellor Henry Yang.
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