Gregory H. Symmes is the executive officer of the National Research Council and chief operating officer of the National Academy of Sciences. As the NRC executive officer, he oversees the seven program divisions that carry out studies, workshops, and other advisory and convening activities and administer research, fellowship, and grant programs, in addition to the Report Review Committee and Office of Congressional and Government Affairs.
As chief operating officer, he oversees the Academies’ offices of human resources, information and technology services, administration, and program security. He also is responsible for the implementation of the National Academies’ five-year strategic plan. After becoming chief program officer in February 2020, Symmes played a key role in the development of a new product to provide rapid, science-based guidance on a range of urgent issues. He has also championed new approaches for addressing complex cross-disciplinary issues.
Earlier in his career with the National Academies, Symmes was the executive director of the Division on Earth and Life Studies, where he was responsible for the overall intellectual, strategic, managerial, and financial leadership of the division. He previously served as deputy executive director, associate executive director, and acting board director, and directed studies on a range of policy issues such as climate change science, mining on federal lands, radioactive waste management, and scientific peer review.
Before joining the National Academies in 1995, Symmes served as a research assistant professor and postdoctoral associate in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude in geology from Amherst College and received his Ph.D. in geology from Johns Hopkins University.
