Ed Seidel is the 28th President of the University of Wyoming, a role he began on July 1, 2020. He is a distinguished physicist and computer scientist, known internationally for scientific excellence, bold vision and dynamic and collegial leadership. He has a track record of advancing scientific research, technology development and economic progress at the university, state, and national levels. Ed has leveraged that experience to develop a vision for UW’s continued success that includes programs designed to enhance student success, broaden UW’s service to the state, and ensure the long-term financial stability of the university.
Seidel received his Ph.D. in relativistic astrophysics from Yale University. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ed and his partner, Dr. Gabrielle Allen, are avid skiers and enjoy hiking and camping in Wyoming’s great outdoors.
Personal Information
• Age 67. Born in 1957.
• Partner is Gabrielle Allen, Director of the UW School of Computing. Dr. Allen, also a physicist and computer scientist, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, was most recently Associate Dean for Research in the College of Education, Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Curriculum and Instruction, and Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Seidel grew up in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Connecticut; Dr. Allen hails from Barking, England.
Positions Held (2014-2020)
• University of Illinois System, Vice President for Research, and Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation, 2016-2020.
• Leader of the Illinois Innovation Network, a consortium of 15 universities including all four-year public universities in Illinois, 2016-2020.
• Founding Interim Director of the Discovery Partners Institute, an interdisciplinary campus of the University of Illinois System and other partners worldwide, 2017-2019.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Founder Professor, Department of Physics; Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Computer Science, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, 2014-2020.
• Director, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), UIUC, 2014-2017.
Positions Held (2008-2014)
• Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and Professor, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia, 2012-14.
• National Science Foundation, Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 2009-2012; Director of the Office of Cyberinfrastructure, 2008-2010.
Positions Held (2003-2008)
• Founding Director, Center for Computation & Technology, Louisiana State University, 2003-2008.
• Floating Point Systems Professor, Louisiana State University Departments of Physics and Computer Science, 2003-2010; continuing as Professor while at NSF, 2010-2012.
• Chief Scientist, Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, 2004-2008.
Positions Held (1996-2005)
• Professor and Head of Numerical Relativity and eScience Research Groups, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam, Germany, 1996-2005.
Positions Held (1991-1996)
• Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1996.
• Senior Research Scientist, Head of Numerical Relativity Group, National Center for Supercomputing Applications and Visiting Associate Professor of Physics, University of Illinois, 1991-1996.
Education
• Ph.D. in Relativistic Astrophysics, Yale University, 1988.
• M.Phil. (1988), M.S. (1987), Yale University.
• M.S. in Physics, University of Pennsylvania, 1983.
• B.S. in Mathematics and Physics, College of William and Mary, 1981.
Professional Memberships
• American Physical Society (APS), Lifetime Fellow.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Lifetime Fellow.
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Current Board and Executive/Leadership Positions
• Department of Energy Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC), 2022-present.
• Helmholtz Association President’s Scientific Advisory Board, 2019-present.
• Council on Competitiveness, Commissioner, 2020-present.
• Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, President’s Council, 2020-present.
• Mountain West Conference Board of Directors, 2020-present.
Selected Recent Board/Executive Leadership Positions
• Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences Board of Visitors, University of Texas-Austin, 2014-2022.
• Illinois Chamber of Commerce Board, 2016-2020.
• Argonne National Laboratory Board of Governors, 2016-2020.
• Illinois Ventures Board of Managers, University of Illinois venture capital fund, 2016-2020.
• University of Illinois Research Park Board of Managers, 2016-2020.
• CURRENT: Chicago’s Water Economy Board Member, 2017-2020.
• Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, Council on Research, Executive Committee, 2017-2020.
• Council on Competitiveness, Technology Leadership and Strategy Initiative, 2017-2020.
• German Excellence Initiative Review for selecting top Germany Universities for excellence funding, 2018.
• Science Foundation Ireland, Review Team, 2019.
• Helmholtz Foundation, Chair of Review Committee for Jülich Research Center, 2014-2018.
Selected Honors and Special Awards
• American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Business Leadership Award, Chicago, 2018.
•Citation forone of theBest 20 Papers of the Last20 Yearsby the International ACM Symposium on High PerformanceParallel andDistributed Computing, 2012.
•IEEE Sidney Fernbach Award, 2006.
•Governor of Louisiana Technology Award, RisingStar ofthe Year, 2004.
•HPC Wire “TopTen to Watch,” 2003.
•GordonBell Prize,for paper titled:“Supporting Efficient Execution in HeterogeneousDistributed Computing Environments with Cactus and Globus.”
•Heinz Billing Preis(MaxPlanck Society award for work in computational science), 1998.
RecentNationalReports, DOE,US NationalAcademy of Science
•Advanced Scientific ComputingAdvisory Committee,Facilities Subcommittee Report.Chaired report recommending advanced computing facility pathways forthenext decade,2024.
•National Academy of Science,Open Science By Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research, member of the committee that wrote this report,2018.