Energy, Resources and Environment | Faculty

William B. Bonvillian

William B. Bonvillian, since January 2006, has been Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Washington, D.C. Office. At MIT, he works to support MIT’s strong and historic relations with federal R&D agencies, and its role on national science policy.  Prior to that position, he served for seventeen years as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Senate. His legislative efforts included science and technology policies and innovation issues. He worked extensively on legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, on Intelligence Reform, on defense and life science R&D, and on national competitiveness and innovation legislation. He has lectured and given speeches before numerous organizations on science, technology and innovation questions, is on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown, and has taught in this area at Georgetown, MIT and George Washington. He serves on the Board on Science Education of the National Academies of Sciences, and has served on the Academies’ Committees on “Learning Science: Computer Games, Simulations and Education,” on “Modernizing the Infrastructure of the NSF’s Federal Funds (R&D) Survey” and on “Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and the Development off 21^st Century Skills.” He was the recipient of the IEEE Distinguished Public Service Award in 2007.

His book, with Distinguished Prof. Charles Weiss of Georgetown, entitled Structuring an Energy Technology Revolution, was published by MIT Press in April 2009, and is summarized at: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11808 .  His chapter “The Connected Science Model for Innovation” appeared in the National Academy book 21^st Century Innovation Systems for the U.S. and Japan (May 2009). His recent articles include, “Stimulating a Revolution in Sustainable Energy Technology” (with C. Weiss) in Environment (July/Aug. 2009); “The Innovation State” (July/Aug. 2009) and “Power Play – The DARPA Model and U.S. Energy Policy” (Nov./Dec.2006) both in American Interest with the latter reprinted in the book Blindside (Brookings Press, Francis Fukuyama, ed., 2007); “The Politics of Jobs” (2007), “Meeting the New Challenge to U.S. Economic Competitiveness” (2004) and “Organizing Science and Technology for Homeland Security” (with K.V. Sharp, 2002), all published in Issues in Science and Technology; “Will the Search for New Energy Technologies Require a New R&D Mission Agency?” (2007) in Bridges; and “Science at a Crossroads" (2002),  published in Technology in Society and reprinted in the FASEB Journal.

Prior to his work on the Senate, he was a partner at a large national law firm. Early in his career, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, working on major transportation deregulation legislation. He received a B.A. from Columbia University with honors, an M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School in religion; and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he also served on the Board of Editors of the Columbia Law Review.  Following law school, he served as a law clerk to a Federal Judge in New York. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar, the District of Columbia Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.