• Maria Zuber

Maria Zuber

Vice President for Research, MIT

Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

Maria Zuber is the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Vice President for Research at MIT, where she is responsible for research administration and policy. She oversees MIT Lincoln Laboratory and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research laboratories and centers, including the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy and Environmental Solutions Initiatives, the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, Haystack Observatory, and MIT.nano. She leads MIT’s Plan for Action on Climate Change. Zuber’s research bridges planetary geophysics and the technology of space‐based laser and radio systems. Since 1990, she has held leadership roles associated with scientific experiments or instrumentation on ten NASA missions, most notably serving as Principal Investigator of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission. Zuber holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an Sc.M. and Ph.D. from Brown. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and is a fellow for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society, and the American Geophysical Union. Vice President Zuber is the first woman to lead a science department at MIT and the first to lead a NASA planetary mission. In 2013, President Obama appointed her to the National Science Board, and in 2018 she was reappointed by President Trump. She served as Board Chair from 2016-2018. In 2021, President Biden appointed Zuber to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Sessions With Maria Zuber

Monday, 1 March

  • 11:00am - 11:30am (CST) / 01/mar/2021 05:00 pm - 01/mar/2021 05:30 pm

    Voices of Innovation

    Voices of Innovation: Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research & E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, MIT
    Interview Innovation & Technology

    Voices of Innovation with Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research and E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, MIT; and Co-Chair, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Prof. Zuber has many "firsts"—from first woman to lead a science department at MIT to first woman to lead a NASA planetary mission. Among the most influential leaders in science and technology today, she shares her vision and perspective on national priorities, R&D, and how to accelerate solutions to the greatest challenges facing the nation and world.

Wednesday, 3 March

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