Allender inducted into Senior Executive Service
ARL Director John Miller administers the oath of office to Dr. Laurel Allender during her Senior Executive Service induction ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Dr. Rene dePontbriand, Allender's spouse and former HRED employee, also participated.
Dr. Laurel Allender, director of ARL's Human Research and Engineering Directorate, was inducted into the Senior Executive Service (SES) on Jan. 13, 2011 during a ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
Allender was recently selected for the SES and appointed HRED's director by the Secretary of the Army.
During the ceremony, ARL Director John Miller administered the oath of office to Allender and presented her with the SES pin and certificate.
The Senior Executive Service is made up of the men and women charged with leading the continuing transformation of government. These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective of government and the public service commitment, which is grounded in the Constitution.
The keystone of the Civil Reform Act of 1978 was the designation of the SES as a corps of executives selected for their leadership qualifications, not their technical expertise.
Allender has been with ARL since its inception and over her career has worked in the field at Fort Bliss, Texas, in Alexandria, Va., and at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. She received her doctorate in applied experimental and cognitive psychology from Rice University in 1987.
Her research interests include cognitive and social aspects of network science, research and development of human behavior representations, cognitive neuroscience, and human-robot-team interaction.