National Science Foundation leader Brian Stone to retire with no clear replacement in sight

October 21, 2026

2 min read

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President Donald Trump's nominee to replace Stone, James O'Neill, has yet to have a confirmation hearing in the senate, leaving the future leadership of the NSF unclear

By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron

The interim head of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Brian Stone, is set to retire as soon as the end of this year, according to reports. There is no clear plan for a successor to steer the agency as President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the NSF, James O'Neill, has yet to have a confirmation hearing in the senate.

Stone, who has led the agency since spring of last year, will resign effective December 31, according to a memo sent to NSF staff on Tuesday which was obtained by journalist Dan Garisto. In the note, Stone reportedly wrote that he would be “working closely with the White House to identify who will perform the duties of the NSF Director as of January 1, 2027, should Mr. O’Neill’s nomination still be pending at that time.”

In a statement to Scientific American, NSF spokesperson Mike England appeared to confirm Stone's retirement, but did not confirm whether he would be leaving at the end of 2026.

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Stone had “served the U.S. National Science Foundation and the American people with distinction for 26 years, including over the past 18 months while performing the duties of NSF Director,” said England in the statement. “His leadership has been instrumental in advancing NSF's mission, and we thank him for his decades of dedicated public service. Brian will continue to perform the duties of the Director until his retirement and NSF will announce any future leadership updates as they are available.”

The reported memo also indicated that acting NSF chief of staff Rebecca Keiser would also depart; England did not confirm or deny this reporting.

Stone has led the NSF on an interim basis since April 2025, after the agency's previous director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, who was appointed during the first Trump presidency in 2019, resigned. Panchanathan's departure came amid Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, which saw mass staff firings, resignations and axes to grant funding. A staffer member at the NSF for over 25 years, Stone had previously spent 10 years as the agency's chief of staff.

Stone's imminent departure comes at a moment of turbulence at the top of NSF. In April of this year, the Trump administration fired all 22 members of the agency’s science advisory board—these positions are appointed by the president and serve six-year staggered terms. The advisors play a critical role in determining how the NSF disperses roughly $9 billion in funding it doles out annually. The firings were widely criticized by the scientific community, with thousands of researchers signing an open letter that said it constituted “alarming attack” on U.S. science. No new baord members have since been named .

Editor's note (10/21/2026): This is a developing news story and may be updated.

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