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NSF Names New Engineering Acting Head

The National Science Foundation has named Elbert L. Marsh to head its Directorate for Engineering.

Dr. Marsh became acting assistant director for engineering on September 16. The appointment places him in charge of all engineering funding at the federal agency. In 1996 the Engineering Directorate issued more than 3,000 awards to over 4,500 researchers and educators nationwide, exceeding $300 million to support advances in bioengineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacture engineering and engineering education.

Dr. Marsh was named NSF Engineer of the Year in 1995 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. He has served as deputy assistant director for engineering, the number two post in the Engineering Directorate, since 1991, following a career with the directorate since 1982. Before coming to NSF, he led a team of engineers in developing the Galileo spacecraft attitude control system software design at California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also was a trajectory design and attitude control design engineer at Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. in the 1960s.

Dr. Marsh holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Mechanics and Materials from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in applied mechanics from Stanford University. He has taught engineering courses at Howard University, and has been a member of the Benjamin Banneker Science and Mathematics Society, a group which works with African American public school students in Montgomery County, Md., who are interested in careers in science and engineering.

Photograph available upon request.