The American Institute of Physics (AIP) has selected applied physicist Robert G.W. Brown as its new Chief Executive Officer. Selected by an AIP Executive Search Committee and unanimously approved by AIP's Board of Directors, Brown previously served as the chief sensor scientist at the Advanced Technology Center of Rockwell Collins, Inc. and worked concurrently as an adjunct full professor in the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic of the University of California, Irvine, and in UC Irvine's Department of Computer Science. He will assume the office of AIP CEO on June 1, 2015.
Brown's appointment ends the search for a successor to H. Frederick Dylla, who announced his intent to retire last June after eight years in the position. He will remain as Executive Director and CEO until Brown takes the office, and then becomes CEO emeritus.
Formed 84 years ago, AIP is a non-profit federation of scientific societies that enhances the disciplines within the physical sciences, fosters collaborative efforts and promotes the value of science to the public, government officials and agencies, policy makers and other influential individuals. AIP Member Societies collectively represent more than 120,000 scientists, engineers, educators and students in the global physical sciences community.
Brown comes to AIP with 40 years of experience as a leader in the physical sciences. His accomplishments at Rockwell Collins include building new nano-plasmonic detectors and inventing ultra-fast computing schemes for detecting light in the UV, visible, infrared and THz regions. He also created ultra-high-index nano-plasmonic glass, which can be used to make ultra-thin and extremely lightweight lenses, for example. Some 25 newly filed patents cover these breakthrough inventions, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) having granted nine to date.
Brown's career includes serving on the U.K. Government's Home Office Science and Technology Advisory Board and NASA's International Microgravity Advisory Committee, and also as Professor and Director of Nanotechnology for Northern Ireland. He was elected into the European Academy, Academia Europaea in 2002. Brown also recently served as Treasurer on the Board of Managers of AIP Publishing LLC, a nonprofit scholarly publisher that is wholly owned by AIP.
