H. Frederick Dylla

H. Frederick DyllaBrief biography
Fred Dylla is the Executive Director and CEO of the American Institute of Physics, an umbrella organization of 10 scientific societies, publisher of scientific journals, and provider of physics outreach resources. Previously, Dylla served as Chief Technology Officer and as Associate Director at DOE's Jefferson Lab, where he spearheaded the Free Electron Laser (FEL) program. He held various positions at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where he helped develop technology for nuclear fusion reactors, particle accelerators, and materials processing. He received his Ph.D. in physics from MIT, is a Past President and Fellow of the AVS and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Journal Articles & Presentations

The Evolving View of Public Access to the Results of Publicly Funded Research in the US
Presentation at the 2013 UKSG Conference, April 8, 2013

Publishers Explain Costs of Producing Online Journals
Chronicle of Higher Education podcast, April 3, 2013

Should Scientific Papers Be Free?
Science live chat, March 6, 2013

Progress Report on the FundRef Initiative Presentation at the CrossRef 2012 Annual Meeting, November 14, 2012

One publisher's journey through the public access debate Information Services & Use, November 2012

Update on public access policy for scholarly publications Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives 2012 Annual Meeting, July 25, 2012

One publisher's journey through the public access debate Presentation at the 2012 Academic Publishing in Europe meeting, January 25, 2012.

U.S. Policy on Public Access: post Scholarly Roundtable Presentation at the 2011 Academic Publishing in Europe meeting, January 12, 2011.

Ernest Rutherford and the Accelerator: A Million Volts in a Soapbox Presentation at the 2011 AAPT Winter Meeting in celebration of the centennial of Ernest J. Rutherford's discovery of the atomic nucleus, January 10, 2011

Watch the video

Policy Statements and Op-Eds

Interview with David Wojick, Scholarly Kitchen July 25, 2012

AIP's response to the Finch Report June 18, 2012

Law Would Balance Public Access and Publishers' Sustenance Chronicle of Higher Education, April 18, 2012

Oral Congressional testimony on examining public access March 29, 2012 pdf

Written Congressional testimony on examining public access March 29, 2012 pdf

AAP-cosigned FRPAA opposition letters (House and Senate) March 5, 2012 pdf

AIP's position on the RWA

Critique of CED report: The future of taxpayer-funded research February 23, 2012 pdf

Response to OSTP on public access to scholarly publications December 22, 2011 pdf

Response to OSTP on public access to digital data December 22, 2011 pdf

AIP response to OSTP January 21, 2010

Opinion: Scientific integrity December 14, 2009

Comment from AIP on the Implementation of the NIH Public Access Policy March 17, 2008 pdf

Free access, yes, but at a cost Boston Globe, February 27, 2008

Open Access, But Who Really Pays? Harvard Crimson, October 12, 2007

AIP Publishing Policy and Copyright Legislation

AIP Matters columns on science and science funding policy

OSTP moves to expand public access
March 4, 2013

Finch on the Finch Commission
February 25, 2013

Who foots the bill for research? November 26, 2012

Finch report on public access July 25, 2012

Open Access advances in Europe July 23, 2012

Science must navigate the gale of creative destruction June 4, 2012

Finding out who funds research May 14, 2012

Public Access at home with the US House Science Committee April 16, 2012

Unnecessary inflammation of the Public Access debate January 23, 2012 issue

Progress toward public access February 13, 2012 issue

Our debt to science August 8, 2011 issue

Open access meets the not-so-open purse April 18, 2011 issue

Science funding needs your support February 28, 2011 issue

A big debate (federal R&D spending) January 10, 2011 issue

Scholarly Publishing Roundtable's report January 12, 2010 issue

Open Access—unfettered, but not costless March 3, 2008 issue

The author of over 190 publications, Dylla is a strong advocate of scientific journals and for improved access to scientific information through various business models. In 2009 Dylla helped organize and participated in the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable under the aegis of the US House Science and Technology Committee. The Roundtable developed consensus recommendations for the development of public access policies for scholarly data and publications; many of its recommendations were folded into the America COMPETES Act of 2010. Dylla currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical publishers (STM), and on the Executive Council of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

AIP Member Societies

American Physical Society

The Optical Society

Acoustical Society of America

The Society of Rheology

American Association of
Physics Teachers

American Crystallographic
Association

American Astronomical Society

American Association of
Physicists in Medicine

AVS Science and Technology
of Materials, Interfaces, and
Processing

American Geophysical Union

Other Member Organizations

Sigma Pi Sigma Physics
Honor Society

Society of Physics Students

Corporate Associates

Additional career details
Since 2007, Dylla has been heading the American Institute of Physics (AIP) as Executive Director and CEO.  Headquartered in College Park, Maryland, AIP was founded in 1931 for the purpose of promoting the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics and its application to human welfare. The 10 Member Societies of AIP represent more than 135,000 scientists, engineers, and educators. Dylla is a member of all ten Societies. As one of the world's largest publishers of physics research, AIP employs innovative publishing technologies and offers publishing services for its Member Societies through its Publishing Center in Melville, NY. AIP's suite of publications includes 15 journals, three of which are published in partnership with other organizations; magazines, including its flagship publication Physics Today; and the AIP Conference Proceedings series. Through its Physics Resources Center, AIP also delivers valuable services and expertise in education and student programs, science communications, government relations, career services for science and engineering professionals, statistical research, industrial outreach, and the history of physics and other sciences.

Dylla was with the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News, Virginia from 1990 to 2007. During this time, he concurrently held an Adjunct Professorship in Physics and Applied Science at the College of William and Mary. During his tenure at Jefferson Lab, Dylla served as the Chief Technology Officer and Associate Director for the Free-Electron Laser (FEL) program funded by the Office of Naval Research. He was responsible for initiating, building, and operating the FEL, which generates high-power light in many different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In addition to providing a tool for many branches of science with applications to defense and industry, the facility's technology continues to inspire a new generation of light user facilities under design and construction across the world.

Holding a career-long interest in science education, Dylla helped to found the K-12 science education programs at Jefferson Lab. He founded similar programs at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory, where he held various research and management positions from 1975 to 1990.

Prior committee and community involvement 
Dylla served on AIP's Governing Board in the early 1990s and again in 2004 until he joined the AIP staff in 2007. He was a member of AIP's Corporate Associates Advisory Committee for many years and hosted the Corporate Associates' Industrial Physics Forum at Jefferson Lab in 2002. He also served as Chair of the Physics Today Advisory Committee and as a member of the Committee on Public Policy. His committee involvement also extended to the Member Societies; he served on numerous AVS committees and was a founding member of the APS Forum of Industrial and Applied Physics. An active member in numerous local and regional technology development organizations, Dylla was also appointed by the Virginia governor to two scientific commissions; he has also served on many national advisory committees for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation.   

Follow Fred
Fred Dylla produces weekly columns in AIP Matters on topics of interest to the physical sciences community. See his past columns in the AIP Matters archive or subscribe to have the newsletter delivered directly to your email address.

Visit Fred's researcher profile on UniPHY, AIP's social and professional networking site.

Contact Information:
Phone: +1 301.209.3131
E-mail: