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Chief 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]

Chief of Naval Research

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]

1st: (1946–1947)[8]

Harold G. Bowen Sr.

2nd: (1947–1949)[5]

Paul F. Lee

3rd: (1949–1951)[9]

Thorvald A. Solberg

4th: (1951–1953)[10]

Calvin Matthews Bolster

5th: (1953–1956)[11]

Frederick R. Furth

6th: (1956–1961)[12][13]

Rawson Bennett II

7th: (1961–1964)[14]

Leonidas Dixon Coates, Jr.

8th: (1964–1968)[5][15]

John Leydon

9th: (1968–1970)

Thomas Barron Owen

10th: (1970–1973)[16]

Carl O. Holmquist

11th: (1973–1975)[17]

M. Dick Van Orden

12th: (1975–1978)[17]

Robert Keith Geiger

13th: (1978–1981)[17][18]

Albert Baciocco

14th: (1981–1983)[17]

L. S. Kollmorgen

15th: (1983–1987)[17]

Brad Mooney

16th: (1987–1990)[17]

John R. Wilson, Jr.

17th: (1991–1993)[17][19]

William C. Miller

18th: (1993–1996)[17][20]

Marc Y. E. Pelaez

19th: (1996–2000)[17][21]

Paul G. Gaffney II

20th: (2000–2006)[17][22]

Jay M. Cohen

21st: (2006–2008)[23]

William E. Landay III

22nd: (2008–2011)[24]

Nevin P. Carr, Jr.

23rd: (2011–2014)[25][26]

Matthew L. Klunder

24th: (2014–2016)[26]

Mathias W. Winter

25th: (2016–2020)[27]

David J. Hahn

26th: (2020–2023)[28]

Lorin C. Selby

27th: (2023–present)[29]

Kurt J. Rothenhaus