National Academy of Sciences Selects Monica Feit as Executive Officer

WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences has named Monica Feit as its next executive officer, effective Oct. 4, 2025.

In this role, Feit will oversee NAS core membership activities, including the election of its officers and members and their annual and regional meetings, as well as the offices of the NAS president, vice president, home secretary, and governing Council.

In addition, Feit will be responsible for NAS program activities, including awards, bilateral scientific forums with the United Kingdom and Israel, the U.S. and multinational Frontiers of Science symposia, the LabX and Science & Entertainment Exchange public engagement programs, and the Office of Cultural Programs.  She will also serve as publisher of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the Academy’s flagship journal of original research, and PNAS Nexus, an open-access interdisciplinary journal.

Currently the executive director of the National Academies’ health and medicine division, Feit has held various positions with the institution for more than 15 years.   Before joining the National Academies, she was a member of the senior executive service in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and served as an American Public Health Association fellow with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. She has lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Niger, and South Africa, where she worked on global health projects. Feit received her Ph.D. from London South Bank University, Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and B.A. from Smith College.

Feit will succeed NAS executive officer Kenneth Fulton, who will serve as senior advisor to the NAS President to help with the transition before his retirement in January 2026, following more than five decades of service to the National Academies. After he retires, Fulton will continue to advise the NAS president and will retain the position of executive director of The National Academies’ Corporation, which owns and operates the Beckman Center in Irvine, California.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. Members of the Academy are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. The membership includes approximately 2,650 active members and 550 international members, with a total of 190 members having been awarded Nobel Prizes.

(Photo courtesy of Christopher Michel)

Contact:
Molly Galvin, Director of Executive Communications
Office of News and Public Information
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
202-334-2138; news@nas.edu