John E. Taylor serves as a program director for three programs in NSF's Division of Computer and Network Systems: the CIVIC Innovation Challenge program, the Smart and Connected Communities program, and the Cyber-Physical Systems program. He is the Frederick Law Olmsted Professor. Taylor studies the dynamics where human and engineered networks meet, making him an ideal fit for an endowed professorship named for the father of landscape architecture and a designer who believed engineered infrastructure should be both functional and aesthetically appealing, serving society’s needs while also creating more livable and healthy communities. Taylor has been an entrepreneur and worked as a project manager before starting his career in higher education. He taught most recently at Virginia Tech, where he was a dean’s faculty fellow in the College of Engineering and a Preston and Catharine White fellow in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.