Scott Barclay is the Associate Vice President of Research in ASU's Knowledge Enterprise and a Professor of Political Science. He previously served as Assistant Vice President of Research in Knowledge Enterprise. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of the NSF Inaugural Engines: Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine (SWSIE) from its inception until February 2025. From 2017 to 2023, Dr. Barclay served as the Director of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences in ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
He received his doctorate in political science from Northwestern University and his bachelor's degree (with first class honors) from the University of Queensland in Australia.
He previously served (2009-2011 and 2016-2017) as a Program Director in the Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation. He has held positions at Drexel University, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), University at Albany, University of Washington, and U.C. Santa Cruz.
In his current role, he oversees all of the proposal development to award implementation pipeline within ASU's Knowledge Enterprise: Washington DC-based Research Engagement Office; the Research Development Office; and, the Research Project Management Office. He also has responsibility for strategically coordinating pursuit and implementation of ASU’s array of projects around some of KE’s large core research initiatives: energy for AI; critical minerals; innovative energy storage; fusion; and, the development of quantum molecular sensing.