WASHINGTON, D.C.- April 5, 2004- Today, National LambdaRail, Inc. (NLR), a consortium of leading U.S. research universities and private sector technology companies, announced that it has appointed Carnegie Mellon University Distinguished Professor David J. Farber as Chief Scientist. In this role, Farber will coordinate the overall research agenda of the organization as well as serve as a key public spokesperson for that agenda. He will report directly to NLR CEO, Tom West. The relationship between the CEO and Chief Scientist will be one of colleagues working together to advise the NLR Board in establishing and achieving the research goals of the company.

As Chief Scientist, Farber will be responsible for:

• Facilitating the development of a set of recommendations for NLR's research goals and plans;
• Communicating those goals and plans to various research communities and funding agencies;
• Acting as liaison with other providers of research infrastructure on plans and capabilities to ensure a holistic set of facilities are provided to various research constituencies; and
• Serving as Chair of the NLR Board's Network Research Council and the Science Research Council.

Farber will especially focus on coordinating efforts to identify and engage the participation of leading researchers and subject-area communities, as well as research programs and projects in a wide range of disciplines, which can benefit from using NLR facilities. Simultaneously, he will continue establishing relationships with major research funding agencies to further their partnership with NLR and NLR participants.

"We are pleased to have Dave join our team as Chief Scientist," said Tracy Futhey, NLR Board Chair. "He brings many years of experience and insight regarding network research that will be key to the strategy and vision of NLR. His work with the advanced scientific, clinical and networking research communities will help create and sustain collaborations using the NLR infrastructure and will help accelerate overall achievement in science, medicine and network research and practices."

Farber is Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University with secondary appointments in the Heinz School of Public Policy and the Engineering Public Policy Group. He retired as the Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also was Professor of Business and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business and Faculty Associate of the Annenberg School of Communications. He is currently a member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council and serves on the Advisory Council of the CISE Directorate of the National Science Foundation. In Jan. 2000, Farber was given a one year appointment as Chief Technologist for the FCC. Prior to his role at the FCC, he served on the U.S. Presidential Advisory Board on Information Technology.

His early research focused on creating the SNOBOL (StriNg Oriented symBOlic Language) programming language, while at Bell Telephone Laboratories, and in creating the world's first operational Distributed Computer System, DCS, while at the ICS Department at the University of California at Irvine. Following, he helped conceive and organize CSNet, NSFNet and the NREN at the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Delaware.

Farber holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he also serves as a Trustee of the Institute and graduated in 1956.