Paul Nielsen
Director and CEO, SEI
Paul D. Nielsen is the director of Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. Paul's leadership of the SEI started on August 1, 2004. Prior to his arrival, he served in the U.S. Air Force. He retired from the Air Force as a Major General after 32 years of distinguished service.
Nielsen relinquished his command of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on June 25, 2004. For over four years, he managed the Air Force’s science and technology budget of more than $3 billion annually. Approximately 8,700 people in the laboratory’s component technology directorates and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research execute the science and technology program. He also was the Air Force’s technology executive officer and determined the investment strategy for the full spectrum of Air Force science and technology activities.
For more information on the SEI see http://www.sei.cmu.edu/
He planned basic research to ensure continued technological superiority, developed and transitioned new technologies for Air Force weapon systems and their supporting infrastructure, and ensured responsive technical support to urgent problems.
Nielsen entered the Air Force in 1972 as a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served in various jobs at headquarters level and in the field. He served at three product centers and three laboratories, including assignments at the Secretary of the Air Force’s Office of Special Projects and the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Nielsen was a military assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Commander of Rome Laboratory. He was operations chief for the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center and director of plans for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Prior to his assignment at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Nielsen served as vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center, the Air Force’s largest product center responsible for developing fighters, bombers, transports, reconnaissance aircraft, training systems, and unmanned aerospace vehicles.
Nielsen received a bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1972; a master of science degree in applied science from the University of California, Davis in 1973; an MBA from the University of New Mexico in 1977; and a Ph.D. in plasma physics from the University of California, Davis in 1981. He was a Hertz Foundation Fellow during his years at the University of California, Davis. He graduated from the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C., in 1989.
In 2004, Nielsen became a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Other awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the Legion of Merit.
For more information on the SEI visit http://www.sei.cmu.edu/
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