Eric D. Evans

Dr. Eric D. Evans served as the 11th director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory from 2006 to 2024. During his 18 years of leadership, Evans led the Laboratory to adapt and strengthen during a time of significant change for national security needs. His tenure was marked by the establishment of new R&D mission areas, the strengthening of ties to the MIT community, the improvement of technology transfer processes, and an increase in inclusion and educational outreach efforts. He also served as a key advisor on technology strategy to senior government leaders. 

Evans will continue his 36 years of service to Lincoln Laboratory and the nation as he transitions into a strategic technical role in the Director's Office and continues work with the defense community as part of the Defense Science Board (DSB). Evans will also hold an appointment on MIT campus as a professor of practice within the Security Studies Program. He will support the ongoing growth of collaborative research and development between Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT campus, including in areas related to climate change as well as the exploration of advanced technology applications.

Evans has been a DSB member since 2009, and held the roles of DSB vice chair from 2014 to 2020 and chair from 2020 to 2024. He has served on several studies, including as co-leader of Task Forces on Improvised Explosive Devices, and Cyber Security and Reliability in a Digital Cloud. He also initiated a new Strategic Options Permanent Subcommittee focused on identifying systems and technology to prepare the nation for future defense needs.

In 2024, Evans received the DoD Medal of Distinguished Public Service, the highest honor awarded by the Secretary of Defense to a private citizen, for his leadership as director of Lincoln Laboratory and as vice chair and chair of the DSB.

Previously, Evans has been an advisor to the U.S. Strategic Command Senior Advisory Group and a member of the Massport Security Advisory Council. From 2012 to 2018, he was the chair of the board of directors for the National GEM Consortium, an organization that provides fellowships to underrepresented minorities pursuing graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. He has served as a member of the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nuclear Mission Committee.

From 1999 through 2006, Evans was the head of Lincoln Laboratory's Air and Missile Defense Technology Division. He was responsible for programs associated with air and missile defense architectures, sensor technology, automatic target recognition, open systems architectures, and measurements at the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

Prior to 1999, Evans was the leader of the Laboratory's Air Defense Techniques Group, where he was responsible for Navy programs related to area air defense, ship self-defense, and overland cruise missile defense. He led efforts in E-2C radar modernization, including new antenna, digital receiver, and signal processor development. His group worked to incorporate advanced E-2C capability into the Navy's Mountaintop program for air-directed surface-to-air missile system development. Evans was also responsible for Laboratory efforts to improve the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar and Standard Missile with new processors and advanced signal processing.

Evans has also worked as a radar design engineer for the Navy's Radar Surveillance Technology Experimental Radar (RSTER) program. His work included the development of antenna and microwave components, adaptive signal processing algorithms, and low cross-section targets for a new adaptive array radar for fleet defense.

Evans is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the AIAA, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is the author of more than 50 journal and conference publications. In 1996, he and his coauthors received the M. Barry Carlton Award from the IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society for a paper on advanced radar signal processing. Evans holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University.