Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees provides leadership and guidance to Society for Science & the Public. Board members are volunteers selected based on their dedicated commitment to science, education, and the Society’s mission of informing, educating, and inspiring.

Mary Sue Coleman, Chair
President, Association of American Universities
President Emerita, University of Michigan
1961 Science Talent Search
1959 and 1960 International Science and Engineering Fair

Martin Chalfie, Vice Chair
University Professor, former chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2008

Hayley Bay Barna, Treasurer
Venture Partner, First Round Capital
Co-Founder and former Co-CEO, Birchbox
2001 Science Talent Search

Paul J. Maddon, Secretary
Founder and Retired Chairman, CEO, and Chief Science Officer, Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
1977 Science Talent Search
1977 International Science and Engineering Fair

Christy Burton, Executive Committee, At-Large
Co-Founder and Board Chair, The Burton Family Foundation

Maya Ajmera, Ex Officio
President and CEO, Society for Science & the Public
Publisher, Science News
1985 Science Talent Search

Craig R. Barrett
Retired CEO/Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation

Laura Helmuth
Health, Science and Environment Editor, The Washington Post

Tessa M. Hill
Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
University of California, Davis

Tom Leighton
Co-Founder and CEO, Akamai Technologies, Inc.
1974 Science Talent Search
1972 and 1973 International Science and Engineering Fair

Alan Leshner
CEO Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Washington, DC

W.E. Moerner
Harry S. Mosher Professor and Professor by Courtesy of Applied Physics, Stanford University
Former Chair, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014

Dianne K. Newman
Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology, California Institute of Technology
1987 and 1988 International Science and Engineering Fair

Thomas F. Rosenbaum
President, California Institute of Technology
Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and Professor of Physics
1973 Science Talent Search

Gideon Yu
Co-Owner and former President, San Francisco 49ers
Executive Chairman, Bowers & Wilkins
1989 International Science and Engineering Fair

Feng Zhang
Core institute member, Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard
Investigator, MIT McGovern Institute for Brain Research
James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Associate Professor, Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2000 Science Talent Search
1998 and 1999 International Science and Engineering Fair