Michael Moloney will become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) in March 2018. Originally from Ireland, Moloney did a PhD in physics at Trinity College Dublin and went on to work at the Irish Embassy in Washington and the Irish Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Moloney comes to the AIP from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where he spent the last eight years as director of the Space and Aeronautics at the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. In previous roles at the National Academies, Moloney served on the National Materials Advisory Board, the Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA), the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies.

Advancing physical sciences

“So much of our modern life is dependent on technology,” says Moloney. “Technology, in turn, is based on the underlying fundamental discoveries of science,” he says, adding “I look forward to working with the AIP community to ensure we can continue to advance and promote the physical sciences for the benefit of all of us”.

The AIP is a non-profit of federation of 10 physics-related societies that together have more than 120,000 members. Member societies include the American Physical Society, the Optical Society, and the American Astronomical Society – which awarded Moloney a special citation in 2011 for his leadership on the decadal survey New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The AIP also publishes a portfolio of physics journals.

The CEO role is currently shared by two AIP senior executives – Catherine O’Riordan and Catherine Swartz – who took over in an interim capacity when the previous CEO Robert Brown retired in May 2017.