Willie E. May
Biography
|
Chemistry Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park B.S., Chemistry, Knoxville College |
Willie E. May serves as Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University where he has been working aggressively to increase the quality and quantity research outputs, facilitate increased entrepreneurship and tech transfer, and better connect research across Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University to community needs.
He previously served as the Senate-Confirmed Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. In this role, May provided high-level oversight and day-to-day leadership for the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). He began his career as a bench Chemist at NIST/NTIS and went on to work at every management level within the organization. His personal research activities were focused on the areas of trace organic analytical chemistry and the determination of physico-chemical properties of organic compounds, and his work is described in more than 100 peer-reviewed technical publications.
May currently serves as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the Board of Directors for Consumer Reports, a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland College Park’s College of Computer, Math and Natural Sciences, and a member of Google’s Public Sector Research Technology Board. He has previously served in numerous other leadership positions including Vice-President of the International Committee on Weights and Measures and President of the Consultative Committee on Metrology in Chemistry and Biology.
May has been awarded numerous awards and honors, including the American Chemical Society’s Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Analytical Chemistry Award, the American Chemical Society’s Public Service Award. In 2015, he was recognized as the Federal Government’s “Top Chemist” by Chemical and Engineering News Magazine, and in 2016, as the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s “Laboratory Director of the Year.” May is an Honorary Fellow of both the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.