Tomás Díaz de la Rubia is a science and technology leader, strategist and administrator with extensive experience in national laboratories, academia and the private sector. He has served as the Deputy Director for Science and Technology and Chief Research Officer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Director in the Strategy and Operations Energy practice at Deloitte Consulting, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Purdue University, and most recently, Vice President of Research and Partnerships at the University of Oklahoma. Díaz de la Rubia is a full professor of physics and of chemical, biological and materials engineering.

As Deputy Director for Science and Technology at LLNL, Díaz de la Rubia oversaw all activities related to innovation and the commercialization of dual-use technologies developed by the laboratory, as well as all of the engineering, high-performance computing and physical sciences related to the lab’s nuclear weapons and global security missions. At the University of Oklahoma, he led efforts to establish the Oklahoma Aerospace and Defense Innovation Institute, which focused on advanced radar technology and Air Force sustainment capability development.

At the University of Arizona, Díaz de la Rubia led the establishment of the Kyl Institute for National Security, a 501(c)(3) affiliated with the university and led by its president and CEO, General (Ret.) Robin Rand. Díaz de la Rubia chairs the Board of Directors of KINS, whose mission is to develop and rapidly translate new technology and capability to the warfighter in areas related to space superiority, directed energy, hypersonics and information dominance.

Díaz de la Rubia was a parent member of the Defense Science Board (DSB),which advised the Office of the Secretary of Defense on Science and Technology relevant to the security of the nation. He co-chaired the DSB’s study on Climate Change and Global Security, was a member of the permanent task force on nuclear surety and participated on studies on Advanced Capabilities for Future Conflict, Homeland Defense, and balancing openness and research security in the Department of War academic research enterprise. He also served six years as a member of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Intelligence Community Studies Board at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

Díaz de la Rubia has been a board member of the National Defense Industrial Association and chairs the Board of Directors of CRFD Global, a non-profit headquartered in Arlington, VA, with main offices in Kyiv, Manila and Amman, that contracts with the U.S. State Department and other government agencies to provide security assistance to U.S. allies around the world.

According to Google Scholar, Díaz de la Rubia’s publications h-index is 62, and he is listed as one of the top 2% of most cited scientists in the world in the 2023 Stanford/Elsevier ranking. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors.