Marcia McNutt, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, has been named by the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to serve as editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals beginning 1 June 2013.

McNutt, who will be the first woman to serve in this position since the journal’s inception in 1880, will become the 19th editor-in-chief of Science.