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Congressman Rush Holt to lead AAAS

Congressman Rush D. Holt, Ph.D., who is retiring from the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of this year, has agreed to become chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals for American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS),

He will succeed Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., who had previously announced that he would be stepping down as AAAS CEO.

Congressman Holt has represented Central New Jersey (12th District) in Congress since 1999. He earned his B.A. degree in physics from Carleton College in Minnesota, and he completed his Master’s and doctoral degrees at New York University. In 1982-83, while he was teaching physics and public policy at Swarthmore College, Holt was selected by the American Physical Society to receive a highly competitive AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship. 

On Capitol Hill, Holt has established a long track record of advocacy for federal investment in research and development, science education, and innovation. Over the course of his career, Holt has held positions as a teacher and as an arms control expert at the U.S. State Department. From 1989 until 1998, he served as Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the largest research facility of Princeton University. As a result of his alternative-energy research, Holt in 1981 was issued a patent on an improved solar-pond technology for harnessing energy from sunlight. He also famously beat IBM supercomputer Watson in a “Jeopardy!” exhibition game intended to promote innovation.

Holt, a research physicist and former teacher, will serve as the 18th chief executive of the 166-year-old non-profit, non-partisan AAAS after his legislative term ends, during the association’s 2015 Annual Meeting, February 12-16, in San Jose, Ca.