Celia Merzbacher

Celia Merzbacher is executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), which aims to grow the quantum industry and supply chain. Merzbacher has two decades of experience leading technology initiatives and partnerships. Previously, she was vice president for innovative partnerships at the Semiconductor Research Corporation. In 2003-2008, she was assistant director for technology R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and served as executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Merzbacher began her career as a materials scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., where her research led to six patents and more than 50 technical publications. She is a Fellow of the AAAS and has served as chair of the National Materials and Manufacturing Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, on the Board of Directors of ANSI, as well as on advisory boards of several university research centers.