Purdue's Bement appointed president of Indiana scientific organization

Arden L. Bement Jr.  Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Arden L. Bement Jr., former director of the National Science Foundation and inaugural director of Purdue University's Global Policy Research Institute, has been appointed president of the Indiana Academy of Science. His appointment is effective June 1.

The Indiana Academy of Science is a nonprofit professional membership organization of Indiana scientists, science educators and students, founded in 1885. The academy works to promote scientific research, encourage communication and cooperation among scientists and improve education in the sciences. It is one of 47 Academies of Science affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Bement, the David A. Ross Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering, retired from Purdue in December 2012 after helping launch the new Global Policy Research Institute in June 2010. He is former director of the National Science Foundation and former director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

During his six-year term as NSF director from 2004-2010, Bement oversaw the foundation's annual budget of more than $7 billion that supports the research and education of roughly 200,000 scientists, engineers, educators and students across the United States. As part of the White House's American Competitiveness Initiative in 2006, he guided initiatives that supported the training of the U.S. workforce to operate in a high-tech global economy.

In 2013 Bement was honored with a new fellow program and energy fund in his name, the Arden L. Bement Jr. Global Policy Research Institute Fellow program.

He joined the Purdue faculty in 1992 after a 39-year career in industry, government and academia. From 1989-1995, Bement also served on the National Science Board, the 24-member policy body for NSF and adviser to the president and Congress on science and engineering issues. He also was head of Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering and also held appointments in the School of Materials Engineering and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Bement was recognized in 2012 by Gov. Mitch Daniels as a Sagamore of the Wabash. 

Media Contact: Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu