Lura J. Powell

Lura J. Powell was appointed to the Board of Regents in March 2014. She was appointed to be the first chair of the Board of Trustees of the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund Authority by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2006 and served in that position until June 30, 2013. In 2011, she was chair of the Washington State Redistricting Commission, which is formed once every ten years to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional district boundaries based on Census results.

Regent Powell is the former Director of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and was a Senior Vice President of Battelle. Prior to her DOE service, she was Director of the Advanced Technology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce, where she was responsible for selection and management of a high-risk technology investment portfolio that spanned the full range of technology sectors. She also chaired the Biotechnology Research Committee of the National Science and Technology Council, which coordinated biotechnology research across the federal government. Following her government service, she was President and CEO of Advanced Imaging Technologies, Inc.

Regent Powell is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Technology Alliance,  Avista Corporation and the Tri-Cities Washington Development Council (TRIDEC). She received a B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Maryland and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Office: Member
Hometown: Richland
Term Expires: September 30, 2025