science
White House Terminates All 22 National Science Board Members, Leaving NSF Leadership Vacant
The Trump administration dismissed all current members of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation, without providing reasons or replacement plans. Board members received termination emails on Friday. Critics, including scientists and lawmakers, expressed concerns over implications for U.S. scientific leadership.
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Los Angeles TimesAudio version
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The White House terminated all 22 current members of the National Science Board on Friday, according to multiple sources including board member Yolanda Gil. Members received an email from President Trump’s presidential personnel office stating, 'On behalf of President Donald J.
Trump, I’m writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately.
Keivan Stassun, a professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University and director of the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics, received the termination email on Friday afternoon. Stassun, who has served on the board since 2022, reached out to fellow board members afterward. About a third of the members contacted by Stassun reported receiving the same notice.
The White House has not provided any reason for the dismissals and has not indicated when or whether the members will be replaced. The White House did not respond to questions from The Times. U.S.
President and Congress. The board establishes policies for the National Science Foundation and advises on its operations. Yolanda Gil, a research professor of computer science and spatial sciences and principal scientist at USC Information Sciences Institute, has served on the board since 2024.
Gil stated, 'Given that the NSF director position has been vacant for a year, and that the NSB’s main role is governing NSF, the agency is left in a very precarious position. Over the last two years, the White House has proposed drastic reductions in the NSF budget, according to Gil.
The National Science Foundation was established as an independent federal agency when former President Truman signed the National Science Foundation Act of 1950.
Truman stated, 'The establishment of the National Science Foundation is a major landmark in the history of science in the United States. We have come to know that our ability to survive and grow as a nation depends to a very large degree upon our scientific progress. Moreover, it is not enough simply to keep abreast of the rest of the world in scientific matters.
