November 16, 2018
Baron to Lead FABBS in 2019
The FABBS Board announces, with mixed emotions, the departure of current Executive Director, Paula Skedsvold, at the end of the calendar year. Skedsvold has been with FABBS for over ten years, serving as both science advocate and Executive Director.
Nora Newcombe, FABBS President, commented on Skedsvold’s service: “Paula has worked passionately and tirelessly to grow and position the organization in Washington, DC, policy circles, to promote funding for our sciences, and to communicate our sciences to policy makers and the public. Recently, she has led the effort among scientific societies to roll back the NIH policies that expand clinical trials to include basic science. We are extremely grateful for her service to FABBS.” Skedsvold has agreed to remain connected to FABBS to ensure a successful transition, before she and her family relocate to Minnesota.
On January 1, 2019, a new Executive Director will take the helm. The FABBS Board has selected Juliane Baron to oversee the operation of the organization as well as its advocacy and educational activities on behalf of its twenty-three member scientific societies. Baron currently serves on the FABBS Council as one of two representatives of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a member scientific society of FABBS.
Baron will bring seventeen years of federal science policy experience to the position. She currently serves as Director of Government Relations for AERA, where she leads all aspects of AERA’s government relations, including advocacy for federal science funding. She is also Chair of the Friends of the Institute of Education Sciences, a coalition of scientific and higher education organizations, and Co-Chairs committees within the Coalition for National Science Funding and Committee on Education Funding. Earlier in her career, Baron was Associate Research Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University, where she managed a three-city study on the impact of welfare reform on women and children. She also served as a Committee Clerk in the Texas legislature and as personal staff for a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Baron holds an MA in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, and a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
“We are thrilled to welcome Juliane as Executive Director and look forward to working with her to make the case for our sciences,” Newcombe said.
Science advocates in DC already know Baron for her strategic thinking and organizing. She will continue FABBS leadership in advancing the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies.
