Monday, April 27, 2009

Obama's Speech at National Academy of Sciences

Full speech:

Obama announced his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) team--I've shortened their bios to just their current work but you can read the full bios here.

Rosina Bierbaum, a widely-recognized expert in climate-change science and ecology, is Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan.

Christine Cassel is President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Christopher Chyba is Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs at Princeton University and a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences.

S. James Gates Jr. is the John S. Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland, College Park.

John Holdren is serving as co-chair of PCAST in addition to his duties as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology.

Shirley Ann Jackson is the President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former Chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999).

Eric Lander is serving as a co-chair of PCAST. He is the Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Professor of Biology at MIT, Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School and member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Richard Levin has served as President of Yale University since 1993 and is a distinguished economist.

Chad Mirkin is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, and Medicine at Northwestern University, as well as Director of Northwestern's International Institute of Nanotechnology.

Mario Molina is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as Director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment in Mexico City.

Ernest J. Moniz is a Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at MIT.

Craig Mundie is Chief Research and Strategy Officer at Microsoft Corporation.

William Press is Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, has wide-ranging expertise in computer science, astrophysics, and international security.

Maxine Savitz is retired general manager of Technology Partnerships at Honeywell, Inc.

Barbara Schaal is Professor of Biology at Washington University in St Louis.

Eric Schmidt is Chairman and CEO of Google Inc. and a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc.

Daniel Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is also Director
of the Harvard University-wide Center for Environment.

David E. Shaw is the chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group in the field of computational biochemistry.

Harold Varmus is the President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chair of PCAST.

Ahmed Zewail is Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Caltech and Director of the Physical Biology Center.