BERKELEY -- The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named technologist and academic Eugene Wong of Berkeley to head its engineering directorate. Wong is scheduled to assume his new position as NSF's assistant director for engineering in June.

Wong is a pioneering researcher in database management systems. He was co-designer of INGRES, one of the first modern database systems. He then co-founded INGRES Corporation, which became a leading commercial provider of database software. He is currently chief scientist and member of the board of directors of Vision Software Tools, Inc., a start-up company based in Oakland, Calif. which produces software products for automating business processes. He is also Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California Berkeley.

At Berkeley, Wong served as Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and helped that department become one of the highest ranked in its field. He has been a founder of several enterprises that supported Internet applications and contributed significantly to the growth of the Internet both here and abroad.

From 1990-1993, Wong served as Associate Director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he was responsible for Physical Sciences, Engineering and Industrial Technology.

Wong received his B.S. degree, his A.M. degree and his Ph.D., all in electrical engineering, from Princeton University. He is a member and councilor of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

As head of NSF's engineering directorate, Wong will manage a budget of approximately $320 million annually. Wong is the fourth person to be named to this position since the directorate was created in 1983. His selection followed a national search chaired by UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang.