As Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Research Strategies, Michael Holland works to develop strategies to support cross-disciplinary research, including the development of major research initiatives, and coordinates the University of Pittsburgh’s response to research policy opportunities in support of its strengths and long-term goals.
Prior to coming to Pitt, Holland served as Executive Director of New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress, a graduate-level informatics program established in 2012 focused on understanding and improving the quality of life in cities. Previously, he spent 13 years in Washington, DC, overseeing federal research and development programs as the Senior Advisor and Staff Director in the Office of the Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy and as the program examiner in the White House Office of Management and Budget with responsibility for the Department of Energy's Office of Science and Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
Holland has also served as a senior policy advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and on the staff of the US House of Representative’s Committee on Science. His is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science at the University of Michigan and chair of the UNC Chemistry Advisory Board. He previously served as a member of NSF’s Business and Operations Advisory Committee and NIST’s Smart Grid Advisory Committee. Holland earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.