Melissa Choi appointed director of Lincoln Laboratory
Dear Colleagues,
I write to share the news that Melissa Choi will become the next director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory on July 1. Currently assistant director of the Laboratory, she brings to this role a 25-year career of outstanding technical and advisory leadership.
Melissa succeeds Eric Evans, who will step down on June 30 after 18 years as director. Eric was recently honored with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Medal for Distinguished Public Service, a tribute to the impact of his leadership, and I am pleased that he will remain at MIT.
A history of excellence in the national interest
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center operated by MIT for the DoD, has provided the government an independent perspective on critical science and technology issues of national interest for more than 70 years. Distinctive among national R&D labs, the Laboratory specializes in both long-term development of advanced systems and technology, and rapid demonstration of operational prototypes. The Laboratory has throughout its history worked with academia, industry, and government to produce innovations that keep our daily lives safe and secure.
Chosen from among a field of distinguished internal and external candidates, Melissa is supremely qualified to lead the Laboratory into its next phase. Like her predecessors, she will set the strategic direction of the Laboratory in advancing national security interests while partnering with the MIT campus community to support fundamental research, teaching, and workforce development in critical science and technology areas.
Melissa’s leadership
Since 2019, Melissa has served as assistant director of Lincoln Laboratory, with oversight of five of the Laboratory’s nine technical divisions as well as its Air Force–sponsored programs. In this role, she has also contributed strategic leadership to the expansion of the Laboratory’s civil space portfolio through the formation of the Laboratory’s new Civil Space Systems and Technology Office. In 2023, she was appointed a member of the national Defense Science Board’s Permanent Subcommittee on Threat Reduction. In 2020, she co-led the study Preventing Discrimination and Harassment and Promoting an Inclusive Culture at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and she has maintained a longstanding commitment to mentoring and other diversity and inclusion initiatives that support the retention of high-quality staff.
Melissa first joined the Laboratory in 1999 as a member of the technical staff in the Advanced Systems Concepts Group, with a PhD in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University. Continually adopting greater responsibility at the group and division levels at the Laboratory, she was named division head for Homeland Protection and Air Traffic Control in 2014, leading 350 staff in research to help prevent terrorism within the United States, facilitate humanitarian assistance and recovery from natural and human-caused disasters, and develop aircraft surveillance, weather sensing, and collision avoidance systems to improve air traffic safety and efficiency. Meanwhile, she served for six years on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, with a term as vice chair, and was appointed to the DoD’s Threat Reduction Advisory Committee. In both those roles, she was recognized with awards for exceptional public service.
Melissa has a marvelous technical breadth as well as excellent leadership and management skills, and she has presented a compelling strategic vision for the Laboratory. She is a thoughtful, intuitive leader who prioritizes communication, collaboration, mentoring, and professional development as foundations for an organizational culture that advances her vision for Lab-wide excellence in service to the nation.
You can read more about Melissa’s background and achievements in this MIT News article.
Successful search
I’m grateful to the members of the search committee, whose names are listed below. Appointed in January by then-VPR Maria Zuber and chaired by Professor Dava Newman, the committee sought to identify a senior leader with a distinguished record of technical or scientific achievement, knowledge of the Laboratory’s mission, capabilities, and operating environment, an understanding of DoD priorities, and other qualities, including a proven ability to advance organizational culture. I thank them for their extensive outreach and advice.
Please join me in congratulating Melissa as she takes on this critical role for MIT and the nation.
Sincerely,
Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research
Lincoln Laboratory search committee
Chair
Dava J. Newman, Director, MIT Media Lab; Apollo Program Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Lincoln Laboratory
Mabel D. Ramirez, Group Leader, Advanced Concepts and Technologies Group (Group 39), Air, Missile & Maritime Defense Technology Division (Division 3)
Christina M. Rudzinski, Assistant Division Head, Biotechnology and Human Systems Division (Division 2)
Robert D. Solis, Chief Information Officer
Marc N. Viera, Division Head, ISR & Tactical Systems Division (Division 10)
Campus
Arup K. Chakraborty, John M. Deutch Institute Professor; Professor of Chemical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry; Core Faculty Member, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Raúl Radovitzky, Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Associate Director, MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
Daniela Rus, Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Committee staff
Kathryn Ahlin, Administrative Coordinator, Lincoln Laboratory
Mary Markel Murphy, Senior Director for Administration, Office of the Vice President for Research