On May 31, U.S. Department of Defense Chief technology Officer Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu presented Eric Evans with the Department of Defense (DoD) Medal for Distinguished Public Service. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the Secretary of Defense on private citizens for significant service to the Department of Defense. Evans was selected for his leadership as director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory and vice president and chairman of the Defense Science Board (DSB).
“I have gotten to know Eric well over the past three years and greatly appreciate his leadership, proactivity, vision, intellect and humility,” Shyu said in his remarks during the May 31 ceremony at the lab. “Eric has the willingness and ability to confront and solve the most difficult national security problems. His distinguished public service will continue to have invaluable impacts on the department and the nation for decades to come.”
During his tenure in both positions for more than a decade, Evans has cultivated relationships at the highest levels within the Department of Defense. Since he assumed his role as laboratory director in 2006, he has advised eight secretaries of defense and seven deputy secretaries of defense. Under his leadership, the laboratory delivered advanced capabilities for national security in a wide range of technological areas, including cybersecurity, space surveillance, biodefense, artificial intelligence, laser communications and quantum computing.
Evans ensured that the lab addressed not only existing Department of Defense priorities, but also emerging and future threats. He foresaw the need and created three new technical divisions that would encompass Cybersecurity and information sciences, Protection of the Homelandand Biotechnology and human systems. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he quickly pivoted the lab to assist in the national response. To ensure America's competitiveness in an ever-evolving defense landscape, he advocated for the modernization of major testing ranges, including the Reagan Test Site for which the laboratory acts as scientific advisor, and obtained financing for new state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Compound Semiconductor Laboratory – Microsystems Integration Facility. He also strengthened ties with the MIT campus on research collaborations to drive innovation and expand educational opportunities to prepare the next generation of the Department of Defense's STEM workforce.
In parallel, Evans served on the DSB, the leading board that provides scientific and technological advice to senior managers at the Department of Defense. Evans served as vice chair of the OSD from 2014 to 2020 and president since 2020. Over the years, Evans directed or supported more than 30 OSD studies of direct importance to the Department of Defense. In particular, he initiated a new Permanent Subcommittee on Strategic Options focused on identifying systems and technology to prepare the nation for future defense needs.
“The medal is a wonderful and well-deserved recognition of Eric's contributions to MIT and national security,” said Ian Waitz, vice president for research at MIT.
When Evans leaves his position as director of Lincoln Laboratory on July 1, he will become a professor of practice on the MIT campus and will continue to strengthen ties between the Laboratory and the MIT campus and work with Department of Defense leaders.
