Patricia Gruber, formerly chief scientific officer at the Office of Naval Research Global, has been appointed science and technology adviser to the secretary of the State Department.
In this capacity, she is expected to anticipate foreign policy impacts of scientific research and development, help build up the STEM workforce within the State Department and engage domestic and international partners to promote U.S. scientific and technological priorities, the State Department said Monday.
Gruber has extensive experience in the private sector and with academic and research leadership, having previously served as director of research at ONR, deputy director of the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University and vice president and general manager of maritime systems at Battelle.
Earlier in her career, Gruber was a solution architect at AT&T and a business development director at Marconi International.