The Elliott School of International Affairs just secured a presidential appointee to take over a research center next year, the University announced Tuesday.

Allison Macfarlane, chairwoman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will lead GW’s Center for International Science and Technology Policy starting Jan. 1. She will also direct GW’s masters program in international science and technology policy.

Macfarlane has led the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since July 2012. She will teach one course at GW next semester called “Energy and Society.”

An expert in nuclear waste issues, Macfarlane oversees the use of radioactive materials for civilian purposes. She previously advised President Barack Obama on how the U.S. should handle high-level nuclear waste as part of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

“I am looking forward to returning to my academic research and to training a new generation of leaders in science and technology policy,” Macfarlane said in a release.

The Elliott School has built up its focus on nuclear issues recently, and it brought Macfarlane to GW to speak in spring 2012 before she was named the agency’s chairwoman.

Elliott School Dean Michael Brown said Macfarlane would bring knowledge of “some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity in the 21st century” to the University.

“Her scholarly expertise has been further extended by her two and a half years of leadership and high-level policy engagement at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” Brown said.