Office of Science and Technology Policy

Last updated

Office of Science and Technology Policy
US-OfficeOfScienceAndTechnologyPolicy-Seal.svg
Agency overview
FormedMay 11, 1976;48 years ago (1976-05-11)
Preceding agency
  • Office of Science and Technology
Headquarters Eisenhower Executive Office Building
725 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees130
Agency executive
Parent agency Executive Office of the President
Website WhiteHouse.gov/OSTP

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.

Contents

The director of this office is traditionally colloquially known as the Science Advisor to the President. A recent appointed director was mathematician and geneticist Eric Lander who was sworn in on June 2, 2021. [1] Lander resigned February 18, 2022, following allegations of misconduct. [2]

On February 16, 2022, the Biden administration announced that deputy director Alondra Nelson would serve as acting director and former NIH director Francis Collins would serve as acting science advisor. Both assumed positions on February 18, 2022. In October 2022, Arati Prabhakar became Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. [3] [4]

On August 25, 2022, OSTP issued guidance to make all federally funded research in the United States freely available without delay. [5] [6]

History

20th century

President Ford signing H.R. 10230, establishing the Office of Science and Technology Policy Gerald Ford A9732 (1976-05-11) A.jpg
President Ford signing H.R. 10230, establishing the Office of Science and Technology Policy

President Richard M. Nixon eliminated the President's Science Advisory Committee after his second Science Advisor, Edward E. David Jr., resigned in 1973, rather than appointing a replacement. In 1975, the American Physical Society president Chien-Shiung Wu met with the new president Gerald Ford to reinstate a scientific body of advisors for the executive branch and the president, which President Ford concurred to do. [7] The United States Congress then established the OSTP in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead inter-agency efforts to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end.

21st century

Under President Donald Trump, OSTP's staff dropped from 135 to 45 people. [8] The OSTP director position remained vacant for over two years, the longest vacancy for the position since the office's founding. [9] [10] [11] Kelvin Droegemeier, an atmospheric scientist who previously served as the vice president of research at the University of Oklahoma, was nominated for the position on August 1, 2018 [12] and confirmed by the Senate on January 2, 2019.

Michael Kratsios was nominated by President Trump to be the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States and associate director of OSTP in March 2019 [13] and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2019. [14] During Trump's tenure, Droegemeier also managed the National Science and Technology Council.

President Joe Biden named, and the Senate later unanimously confirmed, [15] Eric Lander as head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, while also upgrading the position to a cabinet-level post. [16] Lander resigned in February 2022 following reports that engaged in abusive conduct against both subordinates and other White House officials. [17]

In 2022, The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy held a roundtable discussion with some of the nation’s leading scientists to discuss the need to combat the climate crisis and counter arguments for delaying climate action. It is the first time that the White House has recognized scientists who study the climate denial operation run by the fossil fuel industry. [18]

On August 8, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act which included a provision to create a blockchain and cryptocurrency specialist advisory position under the OSTP to be established and appointed by the Director. [19]

Staff

Key positions vary among administrations and are not always published online. [20]

Directors

List of OSTP directors. [23]

ImageNameStartEndPresident
Guyford Stever.jpg Guyford Stever August 9, 1976January 20, 1977 Gerald Ford
Frank Press Jerusalem1953.jpg Frank Press January 20, 1977January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter
No image.svg Benjamin Huberman
Acting		March 5, 1981August 1981 Ronald Reagan
George A. Keyworth, II 1981, 4.jpg Jay Keyworth August 1981December 1985
No image.svg John McTague
Acting		January 1986May 23, 1986
No image.svg Richard Johnson
Acting		May 24, 1986October 1, 1986
William Robert Graham, NASA photo portrait, November 1985.jpg William Graham October 2, 1986June 1989
No image.svg Thomas Rona
Acting		June 1989August 1989 George H. W. Bush
No image.svg William Wells
Acting		August 1989August 1989
D. Allen Bromley.jpg Allan Bromley August 1989January 20, 1993
Dr Gibbons USDA (cropped).jpg Jack Gibbons January 20, 1993April 3, 1998 Bill Clinton
Kerri-Ann Jones.jpg Kerri-Ann Jones
Acting		April 4, 1998August 3, 1998
Neal-lane.jpg Neal Lane August 4, 1998January 20, 2001
Dean Rosina M. Bierbaum.jpg Rosina Bierbaum
Acting		January 21, 2001September 30, 2001 George W. Bush
No image.svg Clifford Gabriel
Acting		October 1, 2001October 28, 2001
John Marburger official portrait.jpg Jack Marburger October 29, 2001January 20, 2009
No image.svg Ted Wackler
Acting		January 20, 2009March 19, 2009 Barack Obama
John Holdren official portrait small.jpg John Holdren March 19, 2009January 20, 2017
No image.svg Ted Wackler
Acting		January 20, 2017January 11, 2019 Donald Trump
Kelvin Droegemeier official photo.jpg Kelvin Droegemeier January 11, 2019January 20, 2021
20161006-OSEC-RBN-7275 (30189848116).jpg Kei Koizumi
Acting		January 20, 2021June 2, 2021 Joe Biden
Eric Lander July 2021.jpg Eric Lander June 2, 2021February 18, 2022
Alondra Nelson, OSTP Deputy Director (cropped).jpg Alondra Nelson
Acting [24] 		February 18, 2022October 3, 2022
Arati Prabhakar by christopher michel 5-9-23.jpg Arati Prabhakar [4] October 3, 2022present

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "White House science advisor Eric Lander sworn in on Pirkei Avot published in 1492". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Alex. "'I am deeply sorry for my conduct': Biden's top science adviser apologizes to staff". POLITICO. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  3. ↑ "White House unveils 'AI bill of rights' as 'call to action' to rein in tool". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Senate Confirms Prabhakar to Lead White House Science Office". bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  5. ↑ "OSTP Issues Guidance to Make Federally Funded Research Freely Available Without Delay".
  6. ↑ Patel, Vimal (August 26, 2022). "White House Pushes Journals to Drop Paywalls on Publicly Funded Research". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  7. ↑ Chiang, Tsai-Chien (January 2013). Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First Lady Of Physics Research. World Scientific. pp. 184–185. ISBN   9789814579131.
  8. ↑ Alemany, Jacqueline (November 21, 2017). "Donald Trump's science office is a ghost town". CBS.
  9. ↑ Morello, Lauren (October 24, 2017). "Wait for Trump's science adviser breaks modern-era record". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2017.22878.
  10. ↑ Aldhouse, Peter (January 18, 2017). "Trump's war on science isn't what you think". CBS.
  11. ↑ Reardon, Sara; Witze, Alexandra (July 31, 2018). "The wait is over: Trump taps meteorologist as White House science adviser". Nature. 560 (7717): 150–151. Bibcode:2018Natur.560..150R. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-05862-y. PMID   30087470.
  12. ↑ Irfan, Umair (August 1, 2018). "Trump finally picked a science adviser. He's a meteorologist. Named Kelvin". Vox.
  13. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to a Key Administration Post". whitehouse.gov . Retrieved August 5, 2019– via National Archives.
  14. ↑ Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha (August 1, 2019). "Michael Kratsios confirmed as US CTO". Fedscoop. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Eric Lander Confirmed for Top White House Science Post | Inside Higher Ed". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Biden elevates science post to level". msn.com. Yahoo News. AFP. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  17. ↑ "White House science adviser resigns after probe found he bullied staffers". February 7, 2022.
  18. ↑ Joselow, Maxine (February 24, 2022). "White House science office to hold first event on countering climate change denial and delay". The Washington Post .
  19. ↑ Ryan, Tim (August 9, 2022). "Text - H.R.4346 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Supreme Court Security Funding Act of 2022". www.congress.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Staff". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  21. ↑ "White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Announces New Chief of Staff | OSTP". The White House. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  22. ↑ Egan, Lauren (July 30, 2024). "What if Harris cleans house?". Politico.
  23. ↑ "Previous Science Advisors (1973–2009)". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  24. ↑ Ward, Myah. "Biden names 2 people to replace Eric Lander in top science roles". Politico . Retrieved February 17, 2022.
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