The X-Prize Foundation said Wednesday that it has appointed Tom Vander Ark, the former executive director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as the president of the Santa Monica-based foundation.

The X-Prize is a nonprofit institute that offers multi-million-dollar awards for breakthrough innovations that benefit humanity. Current awards are offered in the fields of private space travel, energy, medicine, education, the development of fuel-efficient vehicles and the social arena, according to the foundation’s Web site.

“Tom’s experience in both the nonprofit sector and the corporate world make him a natural choice to lead our efforts as we refine our competition-based philanthropy model and expand to other industries,” said Chief Executive Peter H. Diamandis.

While at the Gates Foundation, Vander Ark developed and implemented more than $3.5 billion in scholarship and grant programs for educational institutions in the United States. Prior to that, Vander Ark served as superintendent of a Washington school district and as senior executive for a retail chain.

The most famous X Prize was a $10-million prize awarded in 2004 to Burt Rutan and Microsoft Inc.’s co-founder Paul Allen for SpaceShipOne, which became the first privately owned craft to enter low-Earth orbit.