Director of the Southeast Region
Robert Black
Robert Black was elected in the 2014 elections and will serve three years, beginning July 1, 2015.
Present Position: Vice President of Scion NeuroStim
Chapter Affiliation: Research Triangle Park
Candidate's Statement: My career has spanned basic research, translational research, and commercialization of medical devices. I have held positions in a central research lab in a very large public company, in academia, and in several startup companies. I have been directly involved in the FDA clearance of three medical device products, two of them being permanent implants. I have led a 35-person medical device company and have mentored students at Duke University and North Carolina State University. I am also the president-elect of the RTP chapter of Sigma Xi, and have been working to bring in new members and leaders.
These experiences have provided me with a diverse and blended view of the role of research in society. What I tell young colleagues is that a background in scientific research has high value beyond the walls of the laboratory. Jack Welch, the renowned and controversial former CEO of General Electric, where I started my career, has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and stated that this training allowed him to tackle problems in component businesses in a logical and thorough manner. In his view, this training was significantly more relevant than a MBA. I have found that the regulatory environment of the FDA is, when broken down, simply a form of the scientific method and is thus familiar to those with a research background. That training in scientific research promotes the development of logical and critical ways of thinking is not a new idea. Yet this is a lesson that must be reiterated with each new generation—starting with our young members in Sigma Xi—so that biases don’t emerge that work to create barriers between science and business and society at large.
Too many decisions about our future world rely on the intersection of science and policy and both parties, scientists and policymakers, need to avoid hyperbole and Balkanized stances. When I taught a “physics for poets” course as a graduate student, I was faced with young people who were not going to be scientists. They were wonderful and engaging people, but what intrigued me was that they wanted to talk about the “big” topics: relativity, quantum mechanics, etc. Many of these students had trouble dividing fractions, but this didn’t blunt their curiosity about the world of science. Their sense of wonder was contagious and made me step back from the mathematical nuts and bolts of my studies, gaining a fresh sense of excitement thereby.
One of the persistent challenges faced by Sigma Xi is relevance for its members beyond the point where that membership is listed on a resume. Sigma Xi members have much to offer outside the confines of the Society. Proposing to educate the public about the proper role of science in society is a Sisyphean task, without doubt. But I for one am happy to nudge the process in any way I can and I believe that my colleagues in Sigma Xi have an intrinsic desire to share their perspectives and wonder about science and research. I would like to be a part of the outreach, both to new members and beyond our membership, and help to devise new methods or bolster existing initiatives. I believe my combination of science and business experience puts me in a good position to make positive contributions to the leadership of Sigma Xi.
Robert Black's CV.