Cynthia Atherton was most recently the director of the Science program at the Heising-Simons Foundation, where she oversaw a portfolio of research in climate change science, physics and astronomy, as well as an initiative to increase the number of women in physics and astronomy in the U.S. research academy. She was previously a science program director at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, where she oversaw portfolios that included astronomy, condensed matter physics, seismology, and other physical sciences. She conducted research in atmospheric chemistry and physics at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory prior to joining the Moore Foundation. Atherton received a B.S. in engineering and applied science from the California Institute of Technology, M.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ph.D. in atmospheric science from the University of California, Davis.