I am a cognitive scientist, technologist, and science administrator who for many years has been involved with issues of science policy and ethics. Currently, I am the President of Rothschild Wilder, a private foundation that supports social justice and ethics, science and innovation, the arts and humanities, and the preservation of popular culture artifacts. I serve in a number of other roles, including as Chair of the Board of Directors of Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, where I am also the Chief Executive Officer emeritus and for 20 years was a senior scientist. In addition, I am a Professor Adjunct in the Dept. of Surgery, Otolaryngology, at the Yale School of Medicine, a Research Affiliate in Psychology at Yale University, a Fellow at Yale's Trumbull College, and a member of the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees where I am also Vice-Chair of the Board, leading their Research, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee.

I have served in national leadership roles in the areas of behavioral and social science, neuroscience, and research ethics. I am the current Past President of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) in Washington, D.C. From 2012 through Feb. 2015, I was the Principal Assistant Director for Science at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and led the White House's neuroscience initiative, which included the BRAIN Initiative. From 2006 - 2011, I was Chair of the National Academies’ Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. From 2000 - 2003, I was the Director of the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) at the National Science Foundation.

I am also known for my technological and theoretical developments related to understanding the biological bases of speech and language and their disorders, including the development of articulatory synthesis, sinewave synthesis, the HADES signal processing system, and contributions to the modeling of speech production as a complex, dynamical system.

Born on May 22, 1949, in Newark, New Jersey, where I spent my early childhood, I graduated from Union High School in Union, New Jersey. In the 1960s I was a co-founder and guitar player in the seminal New Jersey garage band, "The Institution." Since the 1970s, I have been a photographer, concentrating on pictures of wall art, including murals, graffiti, and painted buildings, in the urban centers of the cities that I have visited. I am married to Joette Katz, retired Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and currently a partner at the law firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP. Our daughter, Samantha Katz, is a creative director and curator who is the Vice President of Programming + Experience at Summit Series. Our son, Dr. Jason Wilder Katz Rubin, is a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and is married to Zoe Schagrin. They have twins, Rex and Shoshana, our wonderful grandchildren.

Science and Policy Roles