Dr. Nelson is Vice President for Research of WTEC.org. In this capacity he is responsible for identifying needs for research studies or other supporting activities and working with federal agencies to create viable projects. He also helps to assure that WTEC projects are of highest quality using his extensive science and technology experience.

Dr. Nelson recently retired from the Federal government as a member of the Senior Executive Service, after more than two decades of service. His most recent government position was in the Executive Office of the President as Director of the National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development. He coordinated Federally funded research in information and networking technology across more than a dozen agencies, with an annual budget of more than two billion dollars.

Prior to joining the White House, he was Deputy Chief Information Officer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he served as the agency’s Chief Information Security Officer, with additional responsibilities in scientific computing and enterprise architecture. In this position he developed NASA’s cyber security program and helped NASA to earn one of the highest grades in the early years of the Government Information Systems Reform Act. He received the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

He was previously Associate Director of the Office of Energy Research in the U.S. Department of Energy, responsible for research programs that included mathematics, computer and computational science, and advanced technology. During several periods he served as Acting Deputy Director of Energy Research, with responsibility for that office’s multi-billion dollar R&D programs including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, environmental and geo-sciences, engineering, and computer science. He also managed operational programs in technology transfer, the Energy Sciences computer network (ESnet), several supercomputer centers including the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), the DOE Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs, and the DOE technical information program.

Dr. Nelson has extensive experience developing and leading inter-governmental programs. In the early 1990’s he was co-chair of the Large Scale Networking Working Group, which developed and implemented the President’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) Initiative. Earlier, he was one of the original architects of the President’s initiative in High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC); he then led the interagency working group that developed the initiative and chaired the White House committee that implemented the HPCC Initiative.

Dr. Nelson’s early career was spent in engineering and physics research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he worked on fusion energy, led a group studying the effects of nuclear electromagnetic pulse, and was an originator of the Laboratory’s environmental research program.

Dr. Nelson received his A.B. cum laude from Harvard University, majoring in engineering sciences. His graduate education was primarily at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, where he received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, both in mathematics. He received additional graduate training in physics at Columbia University, the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Nelson has authored many referred publications in mathematics, physics, engineering, and public policy. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions and has delivered many invited lectures and presentations. He twice received the President's Rank Award for superior sustained managerial performance and the Department of Energy’s Meritorious Service Award.

Dr. David Nelson
Vice President of Development