Board of Directors
Dr. Chris Fall joined the CRDF Global Board of Directors in March 2024. As the Vice President for Applied Sciences at MITRE, Fall is responsible for leading research and development in emerging technology domains and for overseeing five MITRE Labs innovation centers spanning life, physical, and health sciences; transportation; economics; acquisition; and enterprise strategy.
Before joining MITRE in 2021, Fall served as the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. He was responsible for the majority of the U.S. national laboratories and played a key part in the department’s investments in quantum science, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence.
Prior to his tenure at the Department of Energy, Fall served in several senior management roles at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), including acting chief scientist, over the course of seven years. While on detail from ONR, Fall served for three years across two administrations in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as assistant director for defense programs and then as acting lead for the National Security and International Affairs Division.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve witnessed the impact of CRDF Global’s missions worldwide and its vision in action,” said Fall. “I’m honored to support the CRDF Global team and look forward to shaping opportunities to collaborate through science to create a more healthy, safe and sustainable world.”
In addition to his government service, Fall spent more than two decades in academia, where his research focused on neuroscience, systems biology, and bioengineering. He has been a faculty member or postdoctoral scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Georgetown University, New York University, the University of California at Davis, and the University of Virginia.
In addition to his new role on CRDF Global’s board, Fall serves in advisory or board roles with the Sanford Underground Research Facility Foundation and the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the Japan Society, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Council on Strategic Risks. Fall earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia. He also holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
