Eric Evans, the director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory and chair of the Defense Science Board (DSB), was awarded the Department of Defense (DoD) Medal for Distinguished Public Service on May 31. The award, presented by Heidi Shyu, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the DoD chief technology officer, is the highest honor given by the secretary of defense to private citizens.
During his time as director since 2006, Evans has advised eight defense secretaries and seven deputy defense secretaries, cultivating relationships at top levels within the DoD. His leadership has contributed to delivering advanced capabilities for national security in wide-ranging areas such as cybersecurity, space surveillance, biodefense, AI, laser communications, and quantum computing.
Under his guidance, the laboratory addressed both current DoD priorities and potential future threats. He foresaw the necessity for and established three new technical divisions dedicated to Cyber Security and Information Sciences, Homeland Protection, and Biotechnology and Human Systems. He also promptly pivoted the needs of the laboratory to aid the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Evans advocated for updating major test ranges, such as the Reagan Test Site, and secured funding for state-of-the-art facilities.
Throughout his tenure, Evans further strengthened collaborations with MIT, pushing innovation and expanding educational opportunities, particularly in preparing the next generation of the DoD’s workforce in the fields of STEM. Evans also played a key role on the DSB, a board that provides DoD senior leadership with advice on science and technology. Having served as vice-chair from 2014 to 2020, and chair since 2020, he led or contributed to more than 30 DSB studies which are critical to the DoD.
Evans’s work included establishing a new Strategic Options Permanent Subcommittee with the objective of identifying systems and technology to prepare the country for future defense needs. Evans’ new role, beginning on July 1, will be a professor of practice position on the MIT campus. In this role, he will continue to forge stronger ties between the Laboratory and MIT campus and maintain his work with DoD leaders. His efforts have been of great value to the department and the country, with effects that are predicted to last for decades, as told by Heidi Shyu during the award ceremony.
