Council of Presidents 2026
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URA’s Council of Presidents Annual Meeting and Policy Forum:
Strengthening University–Laboratory Research Collaborations
Event Details
February 12, 2026 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Ave NW, Washington, D.C.
For the option to attend via Webinar, please use the Zoom Registration Link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
AGENDA:
| 8:00 a.m. | Networking Breakfast – in person only |
| 9:00 a.m. | Welcome and Introduction • Council Chair Michael Amiridis, President, University of South Carolina • URA President and CEO John Mester |
| 9:10 a.m. | Dr. Harriet Kung, Deputy Director for Science Programs for the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) |
| 9:45 a.m. | Kristen Ellis, Associate Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Office of the Under Secretary for Science, US Department of Energy, and Anna Grassellino, Senior Advisor for Quantum Science and Technology to the DOE Science Undersecretary and DOE National Quantum Center (SQMS) Director, Fermilab. |
| 10:15 a.m. | Norbert Holtkamp, Director, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
| 10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 11:00 a.m. | Strengthening University–Laboratory Research Collaborations: URA Awardee Panel • Nik Sultana – VSP Recipient (2023, 2024, 2025), Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology • Claudia Navarro – VSP Recipient (2025), Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University • Aliza Siddiqui – URA-Sandia Graduate Fellow (2024), PhD Candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder • Adil Hussain – VSP Recipient (2024), Postdoctoral Fellow, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology at DUNE Moderated by: URA AAAS Pathways to Policy Fellow, Natasha Dacic |
| 12:00 p.m. | Reauthorization of VSP—John Mester, URA CEO |
| 12:15 p.m. | Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), U.S. House of Representatives |
| 12:45 p.m. | Networking Lunch |
| 1:30 p.m. | COP Business •Approval of Minutes of the January 29, 2025, Annual Meeting |
| 1:45 p.m. | URA Reports •Report of the URA Board of Trustees: Timothy Sands, Chair •Report of the URA President and CEO: John Mester •Report of the URA Chief Financial Officer: Neeti Kaur •Update on URA’s Support at Sandia National Laboratory Dave Schultz |
| 3:00 p.m. | Other Business |
| 3:00 p.m. | Adjourn & Reception |
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
COP Chair, President University of South Carolina
URA President and CEO
Associate Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Office of the Under Secretary for Science, US Department of Energy
(D-IL) U.S. House of Representatives
Laboratory Director, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Senior Advisor for Quantum Science and Technology to the DOE Science Undersecretary and DOE National Quantum Center (SQMS) Director, Fermilab.
Tim Sands
Chair of URA Board of Trustees, President of Virginia Tech
URA Chief Financial Officer
