Ralph Semmel

Dr. Ralph D. Semmel is director of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), whose more than 9,000 staff members perform highly innovative research and development for the Department of Defense, NASA, the Intelligence Community, and other federal agencies. Prior to assuming his current role in 2010, Semmel served as the founding head of APL’s Applied Information Sciences Department, business area executive for Infocentric Operations, assistant head of the Power Projection Systems Department, deputy director of the Research and Technology Development Center, and supervisor of the System and Information Sciences Group. Before joining the Laboratory, Semmel held leadership and technical positions with Wang Laboratories, MITRE Corporation, and the U.S. Army. He has received numerous honors, published and presented extensively in the areas of artificial intelligence and large-scale database systems, and led a variety of national-level task forces and studies. He has served as a member of the Defense Science Board and the U.S. Strategic Command Strategic Advisory Group and is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Semmel is a West Point graduate with master’s degrees in computer science and systems management and a Ph.D. in computer science.