 In addition , faculty members have been recruited to lead governmental agencies ; for example , former professor Marcia McNutt is president of the National Academy of Sciences , urban studies professor Xavier de Souza Briggs is currently the associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget , and biology professor Eric Lander is a co @-@ chair of the President 's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology . In 2013 , faculty member Ernest Moniz was nominated by President Obama and later confirmed as United States Secretary of Energy . Former professor Hans Mark served as Secretary of the Air Force from 1979 to 1981 . Alumna and Institute Professor Sheila Widnall served as Secretary of the Air Force between 1993 and 1997 , making her the first female Secretary of the Air Force and first woman to lead an entire branch of the US military in the Department of Defense . 
