Noel N. Schulz is the Edmund O. Schweitzer III Chair in Power Apparatus and Systems in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University. She has a joint appointment at PNNL as part of the PNNL/WSU Advanced Grid Institute (AGI). In August 2021, she started her role as Co-Director of AGI. In August of 2023, she was named the Inaugural Director of WSU’s new Institute for Northwest Energy Futures (INEF).

Dr. Schulz has been active for over 30 years in teaching, research and service at six U.S. universities. Her
research interests include smart distribution systems including storage and renewables, intelligent system applications to the power grid, and rural electrification and microgrids. In research and graduate studies, she has graduated 45 MS and 15 PhD students; published over 175 papers and 2 book chapters; and brought in over $40M in external research through individual and collaborative projects including a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER award. She is the US administrative lead for the US DOE funded $30M project, US-India Collaborative for Smart Distribution System with Storage (UI-ASSIST), involving 16 US partners and 15 Indian partners. She is a Fellow of IEEE and the American Society for Engineering Education. Dr. Schulz spent 12 years on the IEEE PES Governing Board including two years, 2012 and 2013, as PES President.

In addition to her technical activities, Dr. Schulz has been very involved in activities related to the recruitment, retention and advancement of women students and professionals in STEM fields. She received the IEEE HP Harriet B. Rigas Award in 2014 and was recognized recently as the inaugural IEEE Women in Technology and Leadership Award recipient. She is also an advocate for advancing power engineering workforce.