Milan (Mitch) Nikolich and James Gosler, two nationwide safety specialists from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, have been named to the Department of War’s (DoW) first Science, Technology and Innovation Board (STIB).
Nikolich, a senior researcher within the Laboratory’s National Security Analysis Department and former Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Research and Technology, has been named because the inaugural chair of the STIB. He is joined on the board by Gosler, a Senior Fellow at APL with greater than 5 many years of technical management in nationwide safety, cybersecurity, nuclear weapon safety, and counterterrorism. Both will retain their APL roles whereas serving on the board.
The STIB consists of 18 extremely skilled science and know-how specialists from authorities, business, and the analysis group. The board, established by Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (USW(R&E)) Emil Michael, is charged with fixing advanced nationwide safety issues for the Secretary of War, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and different senior Department officers. The STIB unites two earlier boards — the Defense Science Board (DSB) and the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) — right into a single group that may extra shortly and simply ship rigorous scientific and technical assessments teamed with personal‑sector responsiveness.
“The deep expertise and sustained impact demonstrated throughout Mitch’s and Jim’s national security careers will be valuable assets for this new advisory board, and Mitch will be an outstanding board chair,” stated APL Director Dave Van Wie, who served on the DSB from 2022 to 2025. “By bringing together highly technical researchers and industry partners focused on rapid innovation, the board will ensure the nation’s leaders have an effective new resource to maintain our country’s leadership in critical technologies.”
“It’s a distinct honor for two members of the Laboratory to be part of this new organization,” stated Nikolich. “We are proud that the Department of War values APL for our trusted technical analysis as senior leaders shape their decisions, and we look forward to further contributing to these efforts that ensure our nation’s security.”
Prior to becoming a member of APL, Nikolich served because the Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Research and Technology from 2018 to 2020. In this function, he led the Department’s science and know-how enterprise and was pivotal within the creation and technique of the newly established Under Secretariat for Research and Engineering. He served because the principal adviser to the USW(R&E), making certain the nation maintains its technological benefit via strategic analysis and know-how funding. Nikolich has additionally held senior positions with quite a few nationwide security-focused business corporations and served within the Physics Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was a technical contributor to the Strategic Defense Initiative, the institution of the DoW Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction program, and the development of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Additionally, Nikolich has served as a member of U.S. arms management delegations and on the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the U.S. from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.
“The threats to our nation are rapidly evolving and formidable,” Gosler stated. “This new board will combine the technical rigor of the Defense Science Board with the agility and speed of the Defense Innovation Board. In this new threat landscape, the external and independent mindset of this board can help the DoW by challenging the rigidity of the status quo and ensure our nation continues to deter our opponents and, if necessary, prevail in conflict,” Gosler stated.
Gosler served for greater than 30 years in cyber and nuclear weapon positions at Sandia National Laboratories, the place he created and led the Vulnerability Assessments Program and grew to become Sandia’s sixth Fellow. He was the primary director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Clandestine Information Technology Office (CITO), which established info operations as a core CIA self-discipline. He served on the DSB from 2010 to 2021, has led or participated in additional than 30 DSB research, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. His honors embrace the DoW’s Eugene G. Fubini Award, the Lockheed Martin NOVA Award, the CIA’s William J. Donovan Award, the CIA Director’s Award, and the Navy Legion of Merit. Gosler’s earlier committee service contains the National Security Agency Advisory Board (2007-2014), the Naval Studies Board (2011-2016), the Navy Science and Technology Board (2023-2025), and the DSB Permanent Subcommittee on Threat Reduction (2023-2025). Gosler served as a naval officer from 1975 to 2003.