On Might 31, the U.S. Division of Protection’s chief expertise officer, Beneath Secretary of Protection for Analysis and Engineering Heidi Shyu, offered Eric Evans with the Division of Protection (DoD) Medal for Distinguished Public Service. This award is the very best honor given by the secretary of protection to non-public residents for his or her vital service to the DoD. Evans was chosen for his management as director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory and as vice chair and chair of the Protection Science Board (DSB).
“I’ve gotten to know Eric effectively within the final three years, and I significantly recognize his management, proactiveness, imaginative and prescient, mind, and humbleness,” Shyu said in her remarks in the course of the Might 31 ceremony held on the laboratory. “Eric has a willingness and skill to confront and clear up essentially the most tough issues for nationwide safety. His distinguished public service will proceed to have invaluable impacts on the division and the nation for many years to come back.”
Throughout his tenure in each roles over greater than a decade, Evans has cultivated relationships on the highest ranges inside the DoD. Since moving into his function as laboratory director in 2006, he has suggested eight protection secretaries and 7 deputy protection secretaries. Beneath his management, the laboratory delivered superior capabilities for nationwide safety in a broad vary of expertise areas, together with cybersecurity, house surveillance, biodefense, synthetic intelligence, laser communications, and quantum computing.
Evans ensured that the laboratory addressed not solely current DoD priorities, but additionally rising and future threats. He foresaw the necessity for and established three new technical divisions protecting Cyber Safety and Info Sciences, Homeland Safety, and Biotechnology and Human Programs. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, he shortly pivoted the laboratory to help the nationwide response. To make sure U.S. competitiveness in an ever-evolving protection panorama, he advocated for the modernization of main check ranges, together with the Reagan Take a look at Web site for which the laboratory serves as scientific advisor, and secured funding for brand new state-of-the-art amenities such because the Compound Semiconductor Laboratory – Microsystem Integration Facility. He additionally strengthened ties with MIT campus on analysis collaborations to drive innovation and broaden instructional alternatives for making ready the following technology of the DoD STEM workforce.
In parallel, Evans served on the DSB, the main board for offering science and expertise recommendation to DoD senior management. Evans served as DSB vice chair from 2014 to 2020 and chair since 2020. Over time, Evans led or supported greater than 30 DSB research of direct significance to the DoD. Most notably, he initiated a brand new Strategic Choices Everlasting Subcommittee centered on figuring out methods and expertise to arrange the nation for future protection wants.
“The medal is a superb and hard-earned recognition of Eric’s contributions to MIT and to nationwide safety,” stated Ian Waitz, MIT’s vice chairman for analysis.
As Evans steps down from his function as Lincoln Laboratory director on July 1, he’ll transition to a professor of observe appointment on the MIT campus and can proceed to strengthen ties between the Laboratory and MIT campus and work with DoD leaders.
