As chair of the Nominating Committee, I am delighted to announce the slate for ORCID’s 2025 Board election. As a community-built organization, ORCID is governed by a Board that is representative of its membership and wider community stakeholders. The ORCID Board fulfills an important role in the organization’s governance by providing strategic guidance and oversight for the successful achievement of ORCID’s mission. Our Board members are elected for three-year terms on a staggered schedule, so every year, we hold elections to appoint new members to the Board. More information is available in the ORCID Board Charter.
The Nominating Committee received eight valid nominations for the Member-Director Board seats and 48 valid nominations for the Researcher-Director seat. Nominees had experience in one or many of the areas the board identified as top priorities for this year’s nomination cycle:
- Based in Asia and can advocate on behalf of ORCID in the region
- Skilled in the areas of technology, cybersecurity, or finance
- Members of one of the following stakeholder groups: publishers, vendors, or funders
- Experience in organizational governance
The Nominating Committee considered each nomination carefully, striving to build a slate that would bring needed regional balance to the board and fill key sectoral gaps as directors rotate off the board.
I would like to thank all of the nominees this year for taking the time to put themselves forward for Board service. For those who were unsuccessful in making the slate this year, there are several other ways to participate in ORCID’s governance, such as committee membership.
I would also like to thank the members of the committee for their hard work and thoughtfulness throughout the process: Board Member Amal Amin Ibrahim (National Research Center, Egypt), Board Member Nicolas Fressengeas (Université de Lorraine), Board Member Kalynn Kennon (Infectious Diseases Data Observatory), Board Member Ellen Tise (Stellenbosch University), External Member Chris Chan (Hong Kong Baptist University), External Member Yasuhiro Murayama (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan).
The Nominating Committee recommends the following nominees for election to the ORCID Board for the three-year term as per the bylaws.
2025 Slate
Lasith Gunawardena, Professor and Head of Department of Information Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Researcher-Director, Sri Lanka)
Lasith Gunawardena is a Professor and Head of the Department of Information Technology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. At present, he also spearheads the university’s innovation arm—the Innovation, Invention, and Venture Creation Council (IIVCC)—as its Co-Chair. He serves on the Researcher Advisory Council of ORCID Inc., the Advisory Board of STEMUp Foundation, and is the Crossref Ambassador for Sri Lanka. With over 25 years of teaching and research experience, his interests span open data, digital transformation, information security, human-computer interaction, and educational technologies. He received his B.Sc. in Physical Sciences with First Class Honors from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, a Master’s in Advanced Computing from the University of Colombo School of Computing and a Doctor of Engineering from Shimane University, Japan. A Fellow of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, UK, Lasith is also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Simon Porter, VP Research Futures, Digital Science (Member-Director, UK)
Simon Porter is VP of Research Futures at Digital Science. He has forged a career transforming university practices in how data about research is used, both from administrative and eResearch perspectives. As well as making key contributions to research information visualization, he is well known for his advocacy of Research Profiling Systems and their capability to create new opportunities for researchers. Prior to joining Digital Science, Simon worked at the University of Melbourne, where he worked for 15 years in roles spanning the Library, Research Administration, and Information Technology.
Carly Robinson, Assistant Director US Department of Energy Office and Scientific and Technical Information (Member-Director, USA).
Carly Robinson is the Assistant Director for the Office of Information Products and Services in the US Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information (DOE OSTI). The Office of Information Products and Services (IPS) focuses on the dissemination of DOE-funded research and development results. IPS responsibilities include persistent identifier services, development and management of OSTI search and discovery tools, collection metadata quality and curation, communications, management of interagency and international products, and policy development and implementation. Carly is actively involved with PID organizations, including ORCID (developing and leading a consortium, serving as the former chair and current member of the Funder Interest Group), DataCite (developing and leading a consortium, serving as a former board member, serving on the Community Engagement Steering Group, and co-chairing the Americas Expert Group), Crossref (serving on the Funder Advisory Group), and ROR (serving on the Curation Advisory Board). Prior to joining DOE OSTI, Carly was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow in both the US Senate and the DOE Office of Science. She has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of Colorado, and a B.S. in Applied Physics from Michigan Technological University.
Lori Ann Schultz, Senior Associate Vice President, Research Administration, University of Texas, San Antonio (Second Term, Member-Director, USA)
Lori Schultz is the Sr. Associate Vice President, Research Administration, at the University of Texas-San Antonio. She has worked in support of researchers for 30 years. Her career spans the lifecycle of research management from preaward through postaward. She works on evidence-based policies and marshalling research information data in the service of the faculty who do research and using data to forecast and plan strategies for a resilient future for research. Lori has been involved in the ORCID community since 2011 and led the business analysis effort for SciENcv. She is the co-chair of the FDP’s Research Systems & Technology Committee (RSTC) and has conducted presentation and training sessions on a host of research, data, and technology topics at the AAU, APLU, NCURA, SRA, FDP, and Educause. She has presented on ORCID and ORCID-related topics since the development of SciENcv. Lori has many years of experience in research, software development, non-profit board leadership, and data analysis. She has a large network of colleagues willing to share their expertise and a particular passion for using data to improve the working lives of the researchers who help us understand the world. Lori received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Arizona.
Elaine Tham, Regional Director Asia, PLOS (Member-Director, Singapore)
Elaine Tham is Regional Director, Publishing Development (Asia) at PLOS. With a deep understanding of the Asian research landscape, she drives strategic initiatives to foster PLOS’s growth and impact across the region. Elaine actively cultivates collaborative relationships with research communities, policymakers, funders, and institutions in Asia, championing greater transparency, equity and openness in scholarly communication. She thrives on developing partnerships with local communities, built on mutual trust and understanding. Prior to joining PLOS in 2022, Elaine has previously worked at IOP Publishing, Cambridge University Press and Springer Nature. Her career in STM publishing spans over 20 years, with roles involving the development and implementation of Asia-Pacific regional publishing and partnerships strategies, content acquisition and community engagement, and leading teams across different continents. She has managed both book and journal portfolios across various subject areas. Elaine has served on the Conference Program Committee for OASPA in 2023 and 2024. She holds an MEng in Aeronautics from Imperial College, London.
Voting Procedures for ORCID Board of Directors Elections
All ORCID members in good standing as of 21 September are eligible to vote. Online voting will be open from 31 October to 20 November, and full instructions will be sent to the official contact at each member organization by 21 October. Members also have the option to propose write-in candidates for the Board within 30 days of the slate being announced (by 30 October)—full information can be found in our bylaws, Section III, Article 2.
