Chief of Naval Research

Chief of Naval Research
Seal of the Office of Naval Research
Flag of a Navy rear admiral
Incumbent Rear Admiral Kurt J. Rothenhaus since June 16, 2023
Department of the Navy
Reports to	Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition)
Seat	Arlington County, Virginia, US
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 5022
Deputy	Vice Chief of Naval Research
Website	Office of Naval Research

The Chief of Naval Research is the senior military officer in charge of scientific research in the United States Navy. The Chief of Naval Research has a rank of Rear Admiral, and is in charge of the Office of Naval Research.[1]

The Chief of Naval Research has responsibility for basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development components of the Navy's research and development programs (the first three of the seven categories used in the Department of Defense research and development budget, often referred to as 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3, respectively), as well as the Navy's intellectual property policy. The Chief of Naval Research also coordinates with other research and development agencies within the Department of the Navy, such as the Naval Warfare Centers of the Naval Systems Commands.[1]

Other positions in the Office of Naval Research leadership include the Vice Chief of Naval Research (a one-star Marine Corps brigadier general), the Assistant Chief of Naval Research and Commanding Officer of ONR Global (both captains), and the Executive Director and Assistant Vice Chief of Naval Research (both civilians).[2] The Chief of Naval Research reports directly to the civilian Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition), and is thus not organizationally subordinate to the Chief of Naval Operations, the senior military officer in the entire Navy.[3][4][5]

History

The predecessor to the Office of Naval Research was the Office of the Coordinator of Research and Development, an institution within the Navy during World War II meant to coordinate between the military-wide Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), Navy materiel bureaus, and civilian research organizations. The organization was formed in 1941 and was nicknamed the "Bird Dogs" due to their skill at finding and solving interorganizational problems. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker was interim chief, followed by Rear Admiral Julius A. Furer. OSRD was disbanded after the war, and the Office of the Coordinator of Research and Development was incorporated into the new Navy Office of Research and Inventions, headed by Harold Bowen, which became the Office of Naval Research in 1946.[6]

List of Chiefs of Naval Research

Several former Chiefs of Naval Research photographed in 2005. Back: L. S. Kollmorgen, Brad Mooney, Dick Van Orden, Albert Baciocco, R. K. Geiger. Front: Paul Gaffney, Jay Cohen, William Miller.

Chief of Naval Research Nevin Carr with Bill Nye in 2011. Nye had just excitedly accepted an ONR pocket protector presented by Carr.[7]

• 1st: Harold G. Bowen Sr. (1946–1947)[8]
• 2nd: Paul F. Lee (1947–1949)[5]
• 3rd: Thorvald A. Solberg (1949–1951)[9]
• 4th: Calvin Matthews Bolster (1951–1953)[10]
• 5th: Frederick R. Furth (1953–1956)[11]
• 6th: Rawson Bennett II (1956–1961)[12][13]
• 7th: Leonidas Dixon Coates, Jr. (1961–1964)[14]
• 8th: John Leydon (1964–1968)[5][15]
• 9th: Thomas Barron Owen (1968–1970)
• 10th: Carl O. Holmquist (1970–1973)[16]
• 11th: M. Dick Van Orden (1973–1975)[17]
• 12th: Robert Keith Geiger (1975–1978)[17]
• 13th: Albert Baciocco (1978–1981)[17][18]
• 14th: L. S. Kollmorgen (1981–1983)[17]
• 15th: Brad Mooney (1983–1987)[17]
• 16th: John R. Wilson, Jr. (1987–1990)[17]
• 17th: William C. Miller (1991–1993)[17][19]
• 18th: Marc Y. E. Pelaez (1993–1996)[17][20]
• 19th: Paul G. Gaffney II (1996–2000)[17][21]
• 20th: Jay M. Cohen (2000–2006)[17][22]
• 21st: William E. Landay III (2006–2008)[23]
• 22nd: Nevin P. Carr, Jr. (2008–2011)[24]
• 23rd: Matthew L. Klunder (2011–2014)[25][26]
• 24th: Mathias W. Winter (2014–2016)[26]
• 25th: David J. Hahn (2016–2020)[27]
• 26th: Lorin C. Selby (2020–2023)[28]
• 27th: Kurt J. Rothenhaus (2023–present)[29]

References

1. 10 U.S.C. § 5022
2. "Leadership". U.S. Office of Naval Research. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
3. "Navy Organization: The Secretary of the Navy". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
4. "ASN(RDA) Overall Structure". Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition). Retrieved 30 July 2014.
5. Harvey M. Sapolsky (2014). Science and the Navy: The History of the Office of Naval Research. Princeton University Press. pp. 47, 86. ISBN 978-1-4008-6092-0.
6. Buderi, Robert (2013). Naval innovation for the 21st century : the Office of Naval Research since the end of the Cold War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 21–26. ISBN 978-1612513065. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
7. "Photograph 110505-N-PO203-200". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
8. "Harold Gardiner Bowen Papers". Princeton University. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
9. "Solberg Award (Research)". American Society of Naval Engineers. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
10. "Valor awards for Calvin Matthews Bolster". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
11. "The retiring chief of U.S. Navy research, Rear Adm. Calvin M. Bolster (left), congratulates his successor, Rear Adm. Frederick R. Furth, in Washington as Mrs. Furth looks on". Brownwood Bulletin. Brownwood, Texas. 4 January 1954. p. 14. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
12. "Rear Admiral Rawson Bennett II". IRE Transactions on Military Electronics: 1. 1960. doi:10.1109/IRET-MIL.1960.5008182.
13. "Valor awards for Rawson Bennett, II". Military Times. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
14. "Valor awards for Leonidas D. Coates, Jr". Military Times. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
15. "Valor awards for John K. Leydon". Military Times. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
16. "Senior US Navy Leaders, December 31, 1970". Fleet Organization Web Site. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
17. Buderi, Robert (2013). Naval innovation for the 21st century : the Office of Naval Research since the end of the Cold War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 101. ISBN 9781612513065. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
18. "Vice Admiral Albert J. Baciocco, Jr., USN (Ret.), Senior Fellow and Member, Board of Regents". Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
19. "RADM William C. Miller '62, USN (Ret.)". U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
20. Oceanography : joint hearing before the Military Research and Development Subcommittee of the Committee on National Security and the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans Subcommittee of the Committee on Resources, House of Representatives. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1996. p. 95. ISBN 9780160539039. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
21. "Rear Adm . Paul G. Gaffney II, U.S. Navy" (PDF). U.S. Defense Acquisition University. p. 14. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
22. "Rear Admiral Jay M. Cohen". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
23. "Vice Admiral William E. Landay III". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
24. "Rear Admiral (Retired) Nevin P. Carr, Jr". U.S. Navy. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
25. "Rear Admiral Matthew L. Klunder". U.S. Office of Naval Research. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
26. Smalley, David (5 January 2015). "Full Steam Ahead for Navy Science: Winter Comes to ONR". Office of Naval Research. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
27. "Rear Adm. David J. Hahn Takes the Helm at ONR". Office of Naval Research. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
28. "Welcome Aboard, Rear Adm. Selby! New CNR Takes Helm at Office of Naval Research". Office of Naval Research. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
29. Duffie, Warren (2023-06-21). "Welcome Aboard, Rear Adm. Rothenhaus! New CNR Takes Helm at Office of Naval Research". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 2023-07-03.