C. D. Mote, Jr. is president emeritus of the National Academy of Engineering and Regents Professor on leave from the University of Maryland. He was president of the University of Maryland for 12 years and on the University of California, Berkeley faculty for 31 years where he held an endowed chair in mechanical systems, chaired the Mechanical Engineering Department, and served as vice chancellor.

As president of the NAE he is committed to ensuring highly competitive talent in the US engineering workforce, facilitating public understanding of engineering, demonstrating how engineering creates a better quality of life and engaging the academy in global engineering issues in support of national interests.

A highlight of global engineering engagement is the promotion of the NAE’s fourteen Grand Challenges for Engineering from 2008 whose solutions are goals to achieve the vision “Continuation of life on the planet, making our world more sustainable, safe, healthy and joyful.”   

Dr. Mote is internationally recognized for his research on the dynamics of gyroscopic systems and the biomechanics of snow skiing. He has produced more than 300 publications and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Academy of Mechanics, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Acoustical Society of America, and an honorary fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Academician of the Academia Sinica.  He is the 2005 recipient of the NAE Founders Award and the 2011 recipient of the ASME Medal in recognition of his comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and his leadership in academia.