The former chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Defense will take his tech background to Piscataway.
Stephen Welby will become IEEE’s new executive director and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 2.
“Stephen Welby has the experience and passion to lead IEEE into the future,” said Karen Bartleson, IEEE CEO and president. “He is a dynamic leader with a strong commitment to IEEE’s mission. Working in collaboration with the board of directors, Stephen will help ensure that IEEE is universally recognized as the voice of the global technical community and an essential contributor to the development and implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies.”
He previously was U.S. assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering.
“I am honored and excited to have been selected to join IEEE as executive director and COO,” Welby said. “IEEE is an organization that works worldwide to support broad communities of technical professionals. I am looking forward to working with the IEEE leadership, membership and professional staff to increase the global impact of IEEE, support our members and further the IEEE mission.”
IEEE and its members have a goal to inspire a global community to innovate for a better tomorrow through its more than 423,000 members in more 160 countries, and its publications, conferences and professional and educational activities.
IEEE sponsors more than 1,800 annual conferences and events and publishes nearly a third of the world’s technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.
The company also develops international standards that include the prominent IEEE 802 standard for local, metropolitan and other area networks, including Ethernet and Wireless LAN, or Wi-Fi.
