David Wilson has joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT), the agency's primary private-sector policy advisory group. Wilson is president of Morgan State University and has more than 30 years of experience in higher education administration. Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Acting NIST Director Willie May appointed Wilson for a three-year term.
Wilson holds four academic degrees: a B.S. in political science and an M.S. in education from Tuskegee University; a master's in educational planning and administration from Harvard University; and a doctorate in administration, planning and social policy, also from Harvard. He came to Morgan State from the University of Wisconsin, where he was chancellor of both the University of Wisconsin Colleges, and the University of Wisconsin–Extension. Before that, he held numerous other administrative posts in academia, including vice president and associate provost at Auburn University, and associate provost of Rutgers.
Wilson has authored two books and more than 20 articles. Among his many honors, he was named one of the nation's top 100 leaders in higher education by the American Association of Higher Education in 1998, was selected as one of The Daily Record newspaper's Influential Marylanders for 2011, and was honored by the University of Alabama with an award for outstanding leadership in engaged scholarship in 2011.
Wilson serves on the Boards of Directors of the Greater Baltimore Committee, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and on the Governing Board of the Maryland Longitudinal Data System Center. He is a member of the P-20 Leadership Council of Maryland. He is also a member of President Barack Obama's national Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The VCAT was established by Congress in 1988 to review and make recommendations on NIST's policies, organization, budget and programs. The next VCAT meeting will be June 9-10, 2015, in Gaithersburg, Md. For more information on VCAT and the meeting, visit www.nist.gov/director/vcat/.