Board & Officers

Larry Millstein, PhD, JD

President & Program Director

Larry Millstein is a patent attorney with Millen, White, Zelano and Branigan, PC and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology at Georgetown University where he also Chairs the Biotechnology Program Advisory Board. He has also served as Board Member and President of the Foresight Institute, and on the Board of the Washington Academy of Sciences. He earned his BS in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the City College of the City University of New York and his PhD in Chemistry at the University of California at San Diego and The Scripps Research Institute. He earned a JD at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law. He has served PSW as Membership Director, Program Director, Treasurer, and Vice President before becoming Program Director and President in 2014.

Robert Thompson, PhD

Vice President

Robert Thompson is a physicist and formerly a Lead Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton where he led research teams in the quantum technologies group and provided subject matter expertise and technical support to the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) for the fusion and photonics portfolios.  He was previously a research scientist at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (Portugal), University of Otago (New Zealand), and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). His research areas span quantum field theory in black hole space-times, metamaterial-based transformation optics and invisibility cloaking, and quantum computing.  He earned a BS in physics from Virginia Tech, and MS and PhD in physics from Tufts University.

Robin Taylor, PhD, JD

Corresponding Secretary

Robin Taylor is an attorney and theologian specializing in public theology. She is interested in scientific methodology and the interaction of science with politics and religion. She earned her BS in Business Administration and JD with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University, a MA from United Lutheran Seminary, and a MPhil and PhD in Systematic Theology from The Catholic University of America. She is a Past President of the Society and has served as Corresponding Secretary since 2012.

Scott Mathews, PhD

Recording Secretary

Scott Mathews is a native Washingtonian, born and raised in the DC area. He holds a BS in physics, and an MS & PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Maryland. He has more than 40 years of R&D experience, working in private industry, academia, and government labs. He currently works for the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. His past work concentrated on laser micro-fabrication, laser materials processing, and laser direct-write techniques. His current research projects include magnetic materials and low energy nuclear reactions. His hobbies include Tai Chi and fixing old cars.

Brett Magaram, PE

Treasurer

Brett Magaram is a structural engineer and licensed Professional Engineer in over 30 states and the District of Columbia. He specializes in the engineering of cell sites and fiber optic networks in the telecommunications industry. He is broadly interested in science, particularly nuclear power and astronomy. Brett earned his BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Wisconsin Madison and his MBA from the University of Maryland. He has served on the General Committee as Treasurer since 2018.

Anne McQueen

Member at Large
(Social Media)

Anne has a BS in Biology from Sweet Briar College and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University. She worked for the US House of Representatives as well as the Virginia General Assembly. She also consulted for the Federal government where she specialized in exercise planning and technical policy writing. Recently she transitioned to teaching, where she enthusiastically shares her love of science with preschool and elementary aged children. In her spare time, Anne enjoys exploring National Parks with her children and attending rocket launches on the east coast.

Carey Lisse, PhD

Member at Large

Carey Lisse, Ph.D. is a frequent contributor to the Society and fully supports its mission of cutting edge education and exploration. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics & Astronomy from the University of Maryland in 1992 while serving as part of the science team for NASA’s Nobel-Prize winning Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission. He has spent the last 30 years studying the local cosmology, i.e. the formation and evolution of solar systems from interstellar gas and dust until they harbor life. He is a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and has been a participating science team member on the NASA Deep Impact, Spitzer, and New Horizons missions. He is also an avid amateur historian.

Lloyd Mitchell, MD

Membership Director

Lloyd Mitchell is a molecular biologist specializing in the area of gene therapy. He is currently Chief Executive Officer of RetroTherapy, which develops therapeutics for the treatment of genetic diseases based on RNA-splicing. He earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, M.S. in Physiology from Georgetown University, and M.D. from the University of Maryland. He is currently also an adjunct Associate Professor at the Howard University College of Medicine.