Congratulations to David Boyd, winner of the Richard DeMello Award, presented to one individual in public safety communications who has demonstrated the highest levels of personal and professional conduct and performance in the local, state, and national public safety communications arena.  NPSTC presented the award at the Radio Communications of America (RCA) dinner in November.  Dr. Boyd was an early champion of interoperability, seeing the value of input from first responders and he has supported NPSTC for many years, for the good of the entire communications community. NPSTC appreciates that support, which has made significant progress towards solving interoperability issues nationwide. 

Dr. Boyd joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in March of 2003 and served until 2013 as the Director of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility and as the Director, Technology Transfer with responsibility for research and development (R&D) programs to support communications interoperability, information sharing, and space related issues. As the architect of both the SAFECOM and Virtual USA, he has always been a champion of interoperability.

Before joining DHS, Dr. Boyd served as the Director of Science and Technology for the National Institute of Justice, where he oversaw an activity which grew from a budget of $2 million and a staff of four into the single largest law enforcement and corrections technology development activity in the U.S. with an active portfolio of more than $750 million and a staff of more than 200 federal and contract personnel in technology centers across the nation.

He has served on the White House National Science and Technology Council, the National Security Council Committee on Safety and Security of Public Facilities, and as the Executive Chair of the Department of Justice’s Technology Policy Council. He is a recipient of a 2005 Presidential Rank Award, the highest recognition available in the Federal Civil Service.

Before entering the Civil Service, Dr. Boyd served more than two decades in the U.S. Army. He has commanded combat, combat support, and training units in the U.S. and overseas, in times of both peace and war, and has served on military staffs from battalion level to the Pentagon, where – as an operations researcher – he was responsible for the design and supervision of the development and application of automated models in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has represented the U.S. in bilateral meetings with Soviet and other foreign analysts, and led a special strategic analysis in support of the first Gulf War. Dr. Boyd has been honored by three dozen military awards including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.