Arden L. Bement Jr.

He is a former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Advanced Technology, Chief Technical Officer of TRW, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Following the end of his six-year term at NSF, on June 1, 2010 he became the founding director of the Global Policy Research Institute and Chief Global Affairs officer at Purdue University.

Dr. Bement served as a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and as the vice-chair of the Commission's Natural Sciences and Engineering Committee. He has served on and has chaired numerous NRC studies, most relevant to this study chairing the Committee on the Scientific and Technical Assessment of Stockpile Stewardship. He has served as the head of the NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, head of the advisory committee for NIST’s Advanced Technology Program and as a member of the board of overseers for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He chaired the Commission for Engineering and Technical Studies and the National Materials Advisory Board of the National Research Council, was a member of the Space Station Utilization Advisory Subcommittee and the Commercialization and Technology Advisory Committee for NASA and was a member of the U.S. National Science Board from 1989-1995, which guides NSF activities and serves as a policy advisory body to the President and Congress.

Bement was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1983 for contributions to the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear materials and development of advanced materials concepts for defense applications.

Arden Lee Bement Jr. (born May 22, 1932) is an American engineer and scientist and has served in executive positions in government, industry and academia.