Stephen Welby Named IEEE Executive Director

October 26, 2017

Stephen Welby has been hired as IEEE’s next executive director and chief operating officer. Starting on 2 January, he will work from IEEE’s office in Piscataway, N.J., succeeding E. James “Jim” Prendergast, who is set to retire.

An IEEE senior member, Welby until January served as U.S. assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. He was also the Defense Department’s chief technology officer, leading the largest research, development, and engineering organization in the world and overseeing an annual technology investment budget of US $12.5 billion. He previously held senior leadership positions at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

His areas of technical expertise include space systems, robotics, machine learning, high-performance software, and sensor systems.