Dr. William S. Rees, Jr. is widely recognized internationally as a scientist, engineer, and a leader in national security, basic research, and national laboratory policy. For his contributions and service, he has received numerous national and international awards. Dr. Rees has over 25 years of experience in academia, government service, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, and the private sector.

From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Rees served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Laboratories and Basic Sciences, DUSD (LABS), responsible for providing scientific leadership, management oversight, policy guidance, and coordination of the more than $1.8 billion annual Basic Research programs of the Military Services and Defense Agencies. In this capacity, he had cognizance over the entire Defense Basic Research portfolio. In addition, he was responsible for DoD Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and workforce issues, grants policy, and international S&T programs. Dr. Rees was responsible for Defense Laboratories policy, involving more than 45,000 scientists and engineers.

Prior to joining the DoD, Dr. Rees was a Program Manager for the CBRNE Countermeasures and the Critical Infrastructure Protection portfolios at the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, in the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. Dr. Rees holds seven patents, has over 120 publications in archival journals, has edited one book, and has delivered over 300 invited lectures at international meetings, universities, and other locations. In more than a decade as a Full Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at The Georgia Institute of Technology, he supervised 23 undergraduate research students, 19 graduate research students, and 20 postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. Rees earned his B.S. from Texas Tech University, and Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA. He is a Fellow of several national and international professional societies. He held a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT and was a Humboldt Research Fellow at Technische Universitaet, Berlin. Dr. Rees has frequently chaired and served on national and international scientific committees, panels, commissions, and task forces. He has been a professional journal editor and he served on six technical journals’ international advisory boards — including as a founding board member for Advanced Materials, the profession’s most cited journal.

Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles

B.S. Chemistry, Texas Tech University