How I became a Program Director at the National Science Foundation

This presentation will describe one path of a scientist, and an immigrant, into program management within the US scientific enterprise. Since the 1950s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been charged by Congress "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense..." The Division of Physics within NSF aims to do so by supporting fundamental research across the intellectual frontiers of physics, enhancing education and sharing the excitement of science with the public, and stewarding the physics community to maintain the intellectual capital essential for future advances; we also recognize that the development of a diverse Physics workforce is critical for continued progress in scientific discovery. As a Program Director within the Division of Physics, my primary role is to serve as a liaison to the physics community on behalf of NSF and as a physics community's representative to the federal government. In my physics subfield, which is Plasma Physics and plasma science more broadly, that means engaging with multiple scientific communities within APS, AGU, IEEE, and others. It also means communicating and cooperating with partner US federal agencies, as well as internationally, to work together and complement each other's goals and missions towards more rapid progress of science. My presentation will attempt to highlight the importance of communication, compassion, and taking chances in establishing one's path within the human endeavor that is science.