Robert (Bob) Samors is an independent consultant on the intersection of the Federal government and the private and non-profit sectors, with a particular focus on science and technology policy.

Samors spent 20 years working for the higher education sector as Associate Vice President for Innovation and Technology Policy at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU); Associate Vice President for Federal Relations for the University of North Carolina System; and Assistant Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan. In those positions, he advocated for Federal policies supporting the effective and appropriate commercialization of university-based inventions and discoveries and overall increases in the Federal research budget. He also worked extensively with university scientists and engineers engaged in a wide range of research – from biology and environmental science to information technology and nuclear physics – providing strategic advice and on-the-ground guidance on how they could most effectively demonstrate their expertise and raise their visibility to potential Federal funders and policy makers.

During his tenure at APLU, Samors was the lead writer on successful grant applications to the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Commerce and The Sloan Foundation. More recently Samors served as the Senior Scholar for the Association of American Universities’ Accelerating Public Access to Research Data (APARD) Initiative where he was the lead writer on a successful grant application to the National Science Foundation. He also served as a consultant/writer for an ad hoc committee of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) which examined enhanced utilization of intellectual property around digital products created at federal laboratories.

Previously, Samors worked for the Belmont Forum as the Coordination Officer for the e-Infrastructures & Data Management (e-I&DM) Project managing the development of the Forum’s data sharing principles and best practices, effective data planning and stewardship among grantees, and data sharing training curricula; and for the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) as Senior External Relations Manager designing and implementing GEO’s external engagement strategy, including its emergent private sector strategy.

Samors holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Economics from Brown University. He recently served on the American Geophysical Union’s Data Advisory Board.