October 2009: GDCB Professor Stephen Howell on assignment at NSF

Dr. Stephen Howell, professor in genetics, development and cell biology, and director of the Plant Sciences Institute (PSI) for nearly nine years, assumed new responsibilities this month as Division Director of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. This is a temporary assignment at the NSF, and Dr. Howell will remain on the faculty at ISU, but in September stepped down as the PSI Director.

In his new assignment, Dr. Howell will be setting priorities and managing the affairs of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. He will direct a Division with about 30 staff and Program Directors and have a budget of about $120M. He says that he is “learning more about it all the time, although I’ve really been thrown into the deep end in learning how to swim.” The appointment is from year to year, but he expects to hold the position for about three years.

Dr. Howell will continue in his role as a professor in GDCB, and will use his time in NSF’s Independent Research and Development Program to guide and direct the research in his lab. He expects to travel back and forth between Washington and Ames about once per month. During the time that he is Division Director at NSF, Dr. Marty Spalding, GDCB Department Chair, will be his proxy to administer any NSF-supported research activities in Dr. Howell’s lab. Dr. Howell will have no other ISU administrative duties while he is Division Director at NSF.

Dr. Howell’s commute to the NSF is a fairly easy one. He and his wife, Liz, have an apartment in Clarendon, Virginia, just two metro stops away from NSF. What he most looks forward to in this new assignment is that science is a priority for the Obama administration, and he wants to create opportunities so that the best science can grow and thrive. What he carries with him about GDCB is the knowledge and belief that the department is an outstanding one, and such a collegial and productive group should able to recruit the best faculty and do the best science and teaching.