Farewell to Dr. Xujing Davis: A Champion of E3SM Excellence
In the letter below, the E3SM Executive Committee together with the entire E3SM team bid Xujing a fond farewell.
It is with mixed emotions that the E3SM project announces the departure of our program manager Dr. Xujing Davis, who will be transitioning to a new role as SciDAC Program Manager at the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program within the Department of Energy (DOE)‘s Office of Science, effective September 7th, 2025. While we are deeply saddened to lose such an outstanding leader, we celebrate her well-deserved advancement and look forward to future collaborations in her new capacity.
Distinguished Career
Dr. Davis’s leadership of E3SM continues the exceptional program management that began with Dr. Dorothy Koch, who managed E3SM from 2014 to 2019. Dr. Davis brought impressive credentials to this role. She earned her PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, producing a dissertation on numerical modeling of ocean variability. Her research career continued at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where she worked first as a postdoctoral researcher and then a research scientist. Prior to joining DOE, she served as Program Director for Physical Oceanography and Arctic Natural Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2016-2020. In this role she represented NSF and the U.S. government on domestic and international scientific committees and organizations.
When Dr. Davis joined the E3SM project, DOE Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Director Gary Geernaert praised her “impeccable scientific background that is well suited to her new role in DOE.” Dr. Davis proved to be an exceptional successor, building upon Dr. Koch’s foundational work while bringing her own vision and expertise to guide E3SM through its next phase of development.
Transformative Leadership for the E3SM Project
Dr. Davis’s tenure as our program manager has been nothing short of transformational. Her visionary leadership and unwavering support have been instrumental in E3SM‘s evolution into a world-leading earth system model:
Guiding E3SM to Exascale Excellence: Under Dr. Davis’s expert stewardship, E3SM achieved historic milestones, including breakthrough exascale simulations that established E3SM as the first global cloud-resolving model capable of simulating an entire year in a single day. She expertly guided E3SM through the transition to exascale computing, ensuring the Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM) was ready to run efficiently across advanced exascale high performance computing (HPC) architectures, including the groundbreaking Frontier supercomputer.
Fostering Scientific Innovation: Dr. Davis oversaw the successful development and release of multiple E3SM versions, each incorporating significant scientific and computational advances. Building on the success of E3SMv1, she championed new scientific innovations to broaden the capabilities and utilities of E3SM for addressing fundamental and use-inspired science questions.
Building and Nurturing Our Community: Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Davis understood that E3SM could be strengthened by tapping into the broader and deeper expertise in DOE’s scientific enterprise. She co-organized the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling Program (EESM) Principal Investigator (PI) Meeting that brought together more than 300 scientists to share progress and foster collaboration. Her dedication to community building created lasting partnerships across institutions, disciplines, and international boundaries that continue to strengthen our collective mission.
Strategic Vision and Excellence in Management: Throughout complex funding cycles, review processes, and strategic planning initiatives, Dr. Davis demonstrated exceptional program management skills. She skillfully managed the intricate relationships between multiple DOE offices, successfully coordinated with SciDAC partnerships, and consistently advocated for the resources and support our team needed to excel.
A Perfect Fit for SciDAC Leadership
As someone who has expertly managed the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) side of SciDAC partnerships alongside her E3SM responsibilities, Dr. Davis is uniquely positioned for success in her new role. Her deep understanding of the synergies between computational and domain sciences, combined with her firsthand experience of SciDAC’s transformative impact on E3SM development, makes her an ideal leader for advancing scientific computing research across DOE’s Office of Science.
We take comfort in knowing that her new position will keep her within the DOE family, and we are excited about the potential for continued collaboration. The strong partnership between E3SM and SciDAC projects will undoubtedly benefit from her leadership on both sides of this critical relationship.
Our Heartfelt Gratitude
The E3SM project team extends our deepest gratitude to Dr. Davis for her years of exceptional service. She has been far more than a program manager – she has been our champion, advocate, strategic partner, and friend. Her enthusiasm for our science, her unwavering support during challenging times, and her celebration of our successes have made E3SM not just a more successful project, but a better scientific community.
Dr. Davis joined us during a period of tremendous growth and transition, and her leadership helped shape E3SM into the internationally recognized, scientifically groundbreaking project it is today. From managing complex interdisciplinary collaborations to advocating for our computing needs, from fostering early career development to maintaining our commitment to open science – her contributions have touched every aspect of our work.
Her quarterly “From the Program Manager” communications have become a cornerstone of our community, keeping us connected to the broader scientific landscape while celebrating our collective achievements. Her presence at meetings, conferences, and reviews always brought a sense of confidence and optimism that inspired our entire team.
Looking Forward with Optimism
We will truly miss Dr. Davis as our program manager, but we are excited about the opportunities her new role will bring for continued collaboration. The intersection of E3SM‘s needs and SciDAC’s capabilities will benefit tremendously from her unique perspective and experience. We look forward to working with her in this new capacity as we continue pushing the boundaries of earth system modeling and high-performance computing.
Xujing, thank you for your incredible dedication, visionary leadership, and unwavering support of the E3SM project and our entire community. Your legacy within E3SM is profound and lasting. We wish you tremendous success in your new adventure at ASCR and eagerly anticipate the innovations you will bring to the broader scientific computing community. You will always be part of the E3SM family!
