Biographies

Dr. John A. Parmentola
Director for Research and Laboratory Management, US Army

John Parmentola has built a career as a pioneer, entrepreneur and innovator. His extensive background in science and technology spans three decades of fundamental research, technology development and acquisition, and manufacturing technology. He has broad experience in the private sector, academia and has held many positions in the Federal government and Defense Community. Born in the Bronx, New York, Dr. Parmentola received his BS degree in Physics cum laude from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1971 and his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977.

He currently serves as Director for Research and Laboratory Management for the US Army, directing laboratory management policy for all Army laboratories, research, development and engineering centers—including the Army’s Basic and Applied Research programs spanning 12 basic research disciplines and 14 technology areas at the Army Research Laboratory, Army Research Institute, Army Corps of Engineers, and Simulation and Training Technology Center. He also oversees Environmental Quality technology, Manufacturing Technology, Small Business Innovative Research, and Army High Performance Computing programs—with a combined annual budget of roughly $750M. His responsibility encompasses policy for personnel systems, laboratory infrastructure, laboratory security, and Base Realignment and Closure.

Before coming to the Army, Dr. Parmentola was Science and Technology Advisor to the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy, where he provided technical, budgetary, and programmatic advice to DOE leaders for more than $7B in science and technology investments—including Defense, Non-proliferation, Science, Fossil Energy, Energy Efficiency, Nuclear Energy and Environmental programs.

Prior to joining the US Department of Energy, he was co-founder of the Advanced Systems and Concepts Office of the newly formed Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), where he led a diverse group of 20 scientists and engineers in addressing major national challenges concerning the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Dr. Parmentola has been Principal Scientist at the MITRE Corporation, where he worked in applying advanced technology in the areas of arms control verification, strategic offense/defense integration, and strategic command, control, and communications associated with the $1.8B Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade Program.

Earlier in his career, he was Executive Director for the Panel on Public Affairs of the American Physical Society, a postdoctoral fellow with the Program of Science and Technology for International Security at MIT, conducting pioneering research on directed energy technology, and a postdoctoral fellow with the Laboratory for Nuclear Science of MIT, where he made fundamental research contributions to nuclear physics. In the field of science, technology, and public policy, he was a Fellow at the Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies and a Research Fellow at the Center for Science and International Affairs with the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Dr. Parmentola is also co-founder of a successful publishing company, Travel Media Corporation, where he has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer for over 15 years. Travel Media Corporation (TMC) specializes in cross-selling premier hotel properties for leading hotel chains throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and Hawaii through the production and distribution of in-room magazines. TMC also publishes a Spanish version of Departures Magazine for American Express Gold Card members in Latin America. TMC’s clients have included Marriott, American Express, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, Radisson, Ramada, Air Aruba Airlines, Copa Airlines of Panama, Destination Hotels and Resorts and Insignia.

Dr. Parmentola was Air Intelligence Agency nominee for the R. V. Jones Central Intelligence Agency Award and recipient of the Outstanding Civilian Service Award for his many contributions to the US Army. He is a recipient of the Alfred Raymond Prize, Sigma XI Research Award, was an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has presented and published over 150 speeches, papers, and articles in science and technology policy and is the author of an authoritative book on space defense.