The Department of Defense has announced the appointment of Fred Schneider, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Computer Science, to its Defense Science Board (DSB).

Established in 1956 as a standing committee to advise top Pentagon leadership on "the needs and opportunities presented by new scientific knowledge for radically new weapons systems," the DSB has evolved to develop and strengthen the department's research and development strategies for the 21st century through its reports.

Schneider, an expert on computer security, is chief scientist of the National Science Foundation-funded TRUST Science and Technology Center, a collaboration involving researchers at five universities, including Cornell. He serves on the Department of Commerce Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, as a member of the Computing Research Association's board of directors and as a council member of the Computing Community Consortium. He co-chairs Microsoft's external advisory board on trustworthy computing.

"Secretary of Defense Gates believes the DSB needs to be a professional board representing the best scientific and expert advice available to the Department of Defense," said Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. "We are grateful to these superb individuals for their willingness to serve."

Most of the 39 new appointees are from industry and government. Schneider is one of only seven with a university affiliation.