Ralph D. Semmel is an American engineer and computer scientist. He became the eighth director of the

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

Applied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (or simply Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) in Howard County, Maryland. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University ...

(APL) in Laurel, Maryland, on July 1, 2010.
Dr. Ralph Semmel
', thedailyrecord.com In 2024, he announced that he would step down from his role in July 2025.

Biography

A native of

Monroe, New York Monroe is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 21,387 at the 2020 census, compared to 39,912 at the 2010 census; the significant fall in census ...

, Semmel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...

, a Master of Science degree in systems management from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, a Master of Science degree in computer science from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and a Ph.D. in computer science from the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a Public university, public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 un ...

Career

Before joining APL, Semmel held leadership and technical positions with

Wang Laboratories Wang Laboratories, Inc., was an American computer company founded in 1951 by An Wang and G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1954–1963), Tewksbury, Massachusetts (1963–1976), Lowell, Massachuse ...

and the

MITRE Corporation The Mitre Corporation (stylized as The MITRE Corporation and MITRE) is an American not-for-profit organization with dual headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia. It manages federally funded research and development centers ...

. He joined APL in 1986 after serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

.
Ralph Semmel, Director
', jhuapl.edu From 1997 to 2010, Semmel was chair of Computer Science, Information Assurance, and Information Systems Engineering graduate programs for Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering’s ‘Engineering for Professionals’ program. In 2017, Semmel was named an "International Business Leader" by the World Trade Institute. In 2017, Semmel was a commencement speaker for the

University of Maryland, Baltimore The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1807, it is the second oldest college in Maryland and comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, me ...

and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree. On May 24, 2019, Semmel delivered the commencement speech and received an honorary associate of arts degree at Howard Community College. The Daily Record recognized Semmel as an "Influential Marylander" in an issue released March 29, 2019 and as a top 30 "Power in Higher Education" in 2022. Under Semmel's leadership, the Lab had a wide variety of accomplishments, including the successful

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

flyby of APL-built

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

, the data modeling for the

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

Research Center and the successful

Double Asteroid Redirection Test The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a NASA space mission aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects (NEOs). It was designed to assess how much a spacecraft impact deflects an asteroid through its trans ...

, which was the world's first planetary defense test mission. Semmel's leadership also saw APL selected multiple times as one of

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

's Best Workplaces for Innovators and

ComputerWorld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is a computer magazine published since 1967 aimed at information technology (IT) and Business computing, business technology professionals. Original a print magazine, ''Computerworld'' published its final pr ...

's Top 10 Best Places to Work in IT. In July 2024, Semmel announced that he would be stepping down from his role as director of APL in 2025, after almost 40 years at the Lab. He is the second-longest-serving head of the Lab, trailing only its third director, Ralph Gibson.

Research

Semmel has published papers in artificial intelligence, database systems, and software engineering.
Ralph Semmel (Ph.D. CS '92) is UMBC Alumnus of Year for Engineering and IT
', umbc.edu His published works include research on a prototype query tool for the U.S. Army, automated query formation using an entity-relationship conceptual schema and a prototype interface that would allow better data retrieval from the Hubble Telescope. Semmel also researched how to include context into conceptual schema, integrated reengineered databases to support data fusion, knowledge-based information access and spacecraft distributed modeling and simulation. While at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, Semmel's dissertation discussed automated query formulation. Semmel also served as the co-chair for the

Defense Science Board The Defense Science Board (DSB) is a committee of civilian experts appointed to advise the U.S. Department of Defense on scientific and technical matters. It was established in 1956 on the second Hoover Commission's recommendation. Charter The B ...

's task force report on Next-Generation Unmanned Undersea Systems. He has also served on the U.S. Strategic Command Strategic Advisory Group and various panels on the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

(NSA) advisory board. He is currently a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semmel, Ralph 21st-century American engineers University of Southern California alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Maryland, Baltimore County alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists