Bruce B. Darling

Bruce B. Darling

Bruce Darling has served as Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council since July 2012.

Prior to joining the Academy, Darling served from 1996 to 2012 as vice president, senior vice president and executive vice president of the University of California system. In those roles, he was responsible for acquisition of the University’s state-funded budget; state and federal government relations; communications with the news media and public; alumni relations; and private fundraising. In addition, he was responsible for integrating strategic and operational matters with the University’s Board of Regents and for the University’s management oversight of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

He was co-chair with the UC Provost of the UC Long Range Guidance Team that provided strategic guidance to the UC President and Board of Regents on future goals, objectives and strategies for the University. He was also co-chair with a UC Regent of the Eligibility and Admissions Study Group, which recommended to the UC President and Board of Regents changes to strengthen the University’s undergraduate admissions policies and practices.

From 1980 to 1996, he held positions at the University of California San Diego, including as Vice Chancellor and President of the UC San Diego Foundation.

From 1974 to 1980, he worked at the National Science Foundation, including as special assistant to the NSF Director.

He was a member of the National Science Foundation’s Subcommittee on Re-competition of Major Research Facilities and the Dean’s Advisory Board for UC Santa Barbara’s Donald Bren School for Environmental Science and Management. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to membership on the California Commission for Impartial Courts. And he was co-chair of the 2002 and 2004 California education bond campaigns that secured voter approval for $25 billion in new expenditures for facilities construction and modernization at California’s public schools, colleges and universities.

He has been recognized as a Founding Father of the San Diego Supercomputer Center and as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a recipient of the University of California Presidential Medal, the UC San Diego Foundation Civis Universitatis Award, the National Science Foundation Commendation for Notable Service, and the Rod Rose Award for the most outstanding paper published in the Journal of the Society of Research Administrators.

Darling graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, Alpha Mu Gamma and Sigma Delta Pi national academic honors societies. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese, having attended elementary and secondary school in South America and the Caribbean.