Provost L. Rafael Reif today announced that Dr. Eric D. Evans will be the new director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, effective July 1.
Evans is currently a division head and a member of the laboratory's Senior Management Council. He is an expert on radar and optical technologies with an emphasis on air-defense systems.
"(Evans) brings both tremendous technical depth and extensive management experience to his new role as director of Lincoln Laboratory," Reif said in an e-mail to the community. "I am delighted that he has agreed to assume this role, which is of such importance to MIT and to the nation."
Evans said, "MIT Lincoln Laboratory has a very strong technical reputation across the community. I am looking forward to working with the laboratory and the MIT campus to continue that legacy."
Evans will replace Dr. David L. Briggs, who has served as director of Lincoln Lab for eight years. "I am also extremely grateful to Dr. David L. Briggs, the outgoing director, for his outstanding leadership," Reif said. "The laboratory is in a very strong position thanks to all that he has done."
Evans received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Ohio State University. He joined Lincoln Lab in 1988 as a member of the radar systems technology group and served in positions of increasing responsibility (including as leader) in the air defense techniques group, before becoming associate head of the Air and Missile Defense Technology Division.
In 1999 he was appointed head of the Air and Missile Defense Technology Division. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has served on several national task groups and study panels, including work for the Defense Science Board, and has won numerous professional awards.
In his e-mail, Reif thanked the search advisory committee, chaired by Professor Maria Zuber, for its "outstanding work" in the search for a new director.
