Amanda Hallberg Greenwell to Join Simons Foundation as Senior Vice President, External Relations
The Simons Foundation is pleased to announce that on October 13, 2025, Amanda Hallberg Greenwell will join the foundation as senior vice president, external relations. In this newly created role, Greenwell will oversee all aspects of external communications, government relations, civic affairs and issues advocacy.
Greenwell joins the Simons Foundation from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), where she has served for the last 10 years, most recently as head of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA).
While at the NSF, Greenwell was a part of the executive leadership team and worked with the research community, policy leaders, industry, philanthropy and a presidentially appointed 24-member board. She served as an ex officio member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity, and Trust. In 2024, she received the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive.
Before joining the NSF, Greenwell served as director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and as a member of the professional staff for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Amanda to the foundation,” says Simons Foundation President David Spergel. “She brings deep experience of the national policy landscape, extensive relationships in Washington, D.C., and a comprehensive understanding of strategic communications issues relevant to science. I am sure she will make a vital contribution to our work in the coming years.”
“I am honored to join the Simons Foundation in this new role,” Greenwell says. “The foundation’s commitment to advancing discovery across the sciences and sharing that knowledge with the world is both inspiring and essential. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to build on their incredible work and help share the power of science more broadly.”
Greenwell holds a B.S. in marine biology from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu and completed Harvard University’s Senior Managers in Government program.
