Dr. May on the AAAS Guiding Questions

Dr. Willie E. May Vice President for Research & Economic Development President Elect of AAAS

How have past leadership experiences prepared you to assume a leadership role within AAAS?

Over the course of the past 50+ years of my professional career, I have had the great fortune of being given many challenging opportunities. The organization that has had the greatest role in shaping my orientation toward science and leadership was the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where I spent 45 ½ years working at every research and leadership level in the organization. What set NIST apart from so many other organizations at the time is that while not the most diverse organization, especially during the early 1970s when I began, it was a scientific meritocracy where a person of color like myself was provided the opportunity to prove oneself and advance by the quantity and quality of one’s ideas, research and programmatic results. In that environment, I developed the drive to succeed and learned the joy of working together with like-minded individuals of diverse backgrounds who are committed to the advancement of science and the betterment of our planet. As a researcher at NIST, I honed my scientific acumen, produced more than 90 peer-reviewed technical publications, and gave over 250 invited presentations around the world.

As a leader at NIST, I learned that everyone has the potential to make worthwhile contributions if they are made to feel supported, valued and heard, and they are held accountable for the outcomes they produce. I learned that one must lead by example through hard work and commitment to both fairness and what is best for the organization and its mission. I believe in getting to know your team, listening to them, and helping them identify how they can each make their own unique contributions. I learned that one must treat everyone fairly—not equally. Each person and situation has its unique set of issues and needs; a true leader seeks to figure that out and act accordingly. I have carried these lessons with me and they have served me well in my roles as the (former) Senate-confirmed U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary and Director of NIST, as the Director for Major Research and Training Initiatives at the University of Maryland, College Park, and as the current Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University. Across all my leadership roles, I have been firmly committed to the notion that diversity and excellence go hand-in-hand and must be promoted together; they are mutually complementary ideals and one cannot truly exist in the absence of the other.

These values have guided me in a wide range of domestic and international appointments and advisory boards, including:

• Advisory Council, National Network for Critical Technology Assessment [2023- Present]
• NASA Committee on Science [2021 – Present]
• Board of Directors, Consumer Reports [2019 – Present]
• International Advisory Board for China’s National Institute of Metrology [2017 – 2020]
• Co-Chair of the National Commission on Forensic Science [2014 – 2017]
• Science and Technology Advisory Council for the UK’s National Physical Laboratory [2012 – 2021]
• Member, Technical Advisory Panel for Japan’s National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology [2011 – 2015]
• Vice President, International Committee on Weights and Measures (CIPM) [2008 – 2018]
• The Joint Committee on Traceability in Laboratory Medicine [2002 – 2017]
• President, CIPM’s Consultative Committee on Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) [2012-2019]; Leader of CCQM’s Organic Analysis Working Group [1997 – 2012]
• Member, ACS Committee on Minority Affairs [1993 – 2000], Chair [1996 – 1998]

I feel very fortunate that my contributions in these and other roles have been recognized in several notable awards over the past 40 years, including:

• Selection as AAAS Fellow [2019]
• ACS Public Service Award [2017]
• Laboratory Director of the Year Award, Federal Laboratory Consortium [2016]
• Honorary Doctor of Science, and Speaker, Winter Commencement Exercises, University of Alabama Huntsville [2016]
• Named as “U.S. Government’s Top Chemist”, Cover Article, Chemical and Engineering News, July 15, 2015
• Honorary Doctor of Science, and Speaker, Commencement Ceremonies for the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences, Wake Forest University [2012]
• Selection as ACS Fellow [2011]
• Knoxville College Alumni Hall of Fame [2010]
• University of Maryland’s College of Chemical and Life Sciences Alumnus of the Year Award [2007]
• Henry Hill Award for Exemplary Work and Leadership in the Field of Chemistry, NOBCChE [2005]
• Science Spectrum Magazine Emerald Award [2005]
• Council for Chemical Research Diversity Award [2005]
• Keynote Speaker, Winter Commencement Speaker, University of Maryland College of Life Sciences
• Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry Award, ACS [2001]
• Percy Julian Award for Outstanding Research in Organic Analytical Chemistry, NOBCChE [1992]
• Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Federal Executive [1992]
• Department of Commerce Silver (1985) and Gold (1992) Medal Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Federal Service
• Arthur Flemming Award for Outstanding Federal Service (1986)

Finally, my commitment to promoting diversity in the sciences and bringing resources to underserved populations has brought me to Morgan State University, an Historically Black University (HBCU), which has recently set its sights on becoming an R1 Carnegie Classified Very High Research institution. As Morgan’s Vice President for Research and Economic Development, I have striven to recruit and empower high quality staff and administrators who are committed to paving the way for Morgan’s faculty to engage in outstanding research, while “meeting students where they are and taking them to where the need” to be to support US competitiveness and provide generational wealth for themselves and their families.

Prior to joining in 2018, Morgan had received 1 U.S. Patent and generated a total of 27 Intellectual Property Disclosures in its 150-year history. As of today, Morgan has 17 Issued U.S. Patents, over 30 Utility Patents Pending in the USPTO, and 154 Intellectual Property Disclosures (an average of a new innovation every 12 days over the past 5 years). Over the same period, the University’s total R&D expenditures have more than doubled from approx. $13M to $27.1M and new sponsored funding commitments increased from $34M to $75M. I am deeply thankful to work with the remarkable team that has helped make this possible. We are not slowing down; Morgan is rising!

I am excited by the prospect of us working together in AAAS to “advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the  benefit of all.” In order to maintain US global competitiveness, it is in our National Best Interest to make better use of our nation’s diversity in providing U.S. STEM Workforce of the future.

What unique role(s) can/should AAAS play in the scientific enterprise?

As the world’s largest general scientific organization, AAAS is uniquely positioned to make transformational impacts on scientific disciplines and the role of science in society at large. As an advocate for scientists, AAAS can both recognize and promote outstanding scientific achievements and serve as a resource by making scientific results more accessible and connecting researchers across disciplines. The complex problems faced by our Nation and the world require us to step outside our sometimes insular academic silos and work across disciplines to create innovative solutions.

These same challenges compel us to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the scientific enterprise—not simply because doing so is fair or right, but because we cannot succeed without leveraging the bright minds and talent we have been leaving behind. As international scientists educated in the United States increasingly return to their countries of origin, the US cannot maintain its global competitiveness without training and nurturing scientists who already call this country their home. AAAS has the stature and resources to support in-depth studies of the causes of and solutions to the underrepresentation of minority groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and to foster an environment in which researchers of all backgrounds feel welcome and supported.

What are the 2-3 most important items for which AAAS can advocate?

The dearth of diversity in STEM cannot be addressed without a greater focus on the STEM education pipeline. My experience at Maryland’s premiere HBCU, Morgan State University, has punctuated the fact that one of the greatest obstacles to a more diverse and inclusive scientific enterprise in the United States is our deeply and systematically unequal K-12 education system. Students who are not prepared for college are less likely to pursue STEM, struggle especially in demanding STEM disciplines, and trail their peers in terms of readiness for training in STEM research. AAAS has the power to research, support, and advocate for high quality STEM education that will prepare and inspire our young people to pursue education and careers in the sciences.

We also find ourselves at an inflexion point wherein public trust in the sciences is critical for our public health, the environment, and future prosperity. AAAS is in a position to support the science of effective communication and responding to misinformation, provide resources and training to prepare and encourage scientists to engage in meaningful public discourse, support platforms that offer productive and responsible scientific communication, and connect with thought leaders to communicate scientific findings in accessible and accurate ways. This is another area in which strengthening public STEM education will pay dividends by nurturing a more robust public understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry and its results.

Finally, my years at NIST and Morgan have attuned me to the essential relationship between government agencies and the scientific enterprise. There is no denying that scientific inquiry is a resource-intensive team sport, and government support is indispensable for its continued success. AAAS must continue to develop the experience and expertise to lobby law makers and agency officials for policies and programs that support and advance science across the broad range of disciplines that it represents. An equally important but even more challenging task is working to ensure that government policy is adequately informed by and responsive to well established scientific findings and technological expertise. On both fronts, AAAS has the opportunity to be a force for good through organizing and mobilizing scientists and communicators to take on these daunting tasks.

What excites or inspires you the most about the future of the scientific enterprise, and, more specifically, AAAS's role in that future?

The problems we face as a Nation and more broadly as members of the global community can sometimes appear insurmountable. It seems that every day we learn of new environmental and climate-related catastrophes, casualties of an ongoing global pandemic, and new contagions that evade our most advanced treatments. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that the intrepid pursuit of science and the application of scientific principles hold the key to addressing these challenges and making continuing improvements in the quality of life that we inhabitants of Earth may enjoy. My own career as a scientist with its challenges, discoveries, and opportunities to work alongside others and make my own small contributions to this great endeavor, has provided me with a deep source of meaning and pride in my life. What excites me the most about the future of science and AAAS’s role in it is not just the solutions it can provide, but the opportunity to be a part of something so much greater than oneself. I wake up each morning eager to help others, and especially young people, be a small part of humanity’s striving to understand nature and create a better world. I believe that AAAS has an important role to play in making that opportunity available to more and more people.