Science Advisor to the President

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The Science Advisor to the President is an individual charged with providing advisory opinions and analysis on science and technology matters to the President of the United States. The first Science Advisor, Vannevar Bush, chairman of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, served Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from 1941 to 1951. President Truman created the President's Science Advisory Committee in 1951, establishing the chairman of this committee as the President's Science Advisor. This committee continued under Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon until 1973. Nixon terminated the committee rather than appointing a replacement for his advisor who had resigned. The US Congress established the Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1976, re-establishing Presidential Science Advisors to the present day.

Contents

The current advisor is Arati Prabhakar, who has served as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) since October 3, 2022. [1]

History

Special Advisory Board

Although the National Research Council (now known as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), formed in 1916, was the first body formed to advise the government on science and technology, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the Science Advisory Board as a body within the NRC in 1933 in order to advise the president. Karl Taylor Compton served as the chair of the body. However, the body was dissolved in 1935.

World War II

The OSTP evolved out of the Office of Scientific Research and Development created in 1941 during World War II by Roosevelt. Vannevar Bush chaired this office through Roosevelt's death in 1945, and continued under Roosevelt's successor Harry S. Truman until 1951.

PSAC

After the war, President Harry S. Truman replaced the OSRD with the Science Advisory Committee in 1951. The office was moved to the White House on November 21, 1957, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to provide advice and recommendation in response to the Space Race started by the USSR's launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1.

OSTP

President Richard M. Nixon eliminated the PSAC in 1973, rather than appointing a replacement for his second Science Advisor, Edward E. David Jr., who resigned. The United States Congress 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.

Science Advisors

ImageNameAgencyStartEndPresident
Vannevar Bush.jpg Vannevar Bush OSRD June 28, 1941December 31, 1947 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Oliver E. Buckley.jpg Oliver Buckley PSAC April 20, 1951June 15, 1952
Lee A. DuBridge 1950.png Lee DuBridge 19521956
Dwight D. Eisenhower
II Rabi.jpg Isidor Rabi 19561957
No image.svg James Killian November 7, 1957July 1959
Kistiakowsky.jpg George Kistiakowsky July 1959January 20, 1961
Jerome Wiesner.jpg Jerome Wiesner OST January 20, 1961January 24, 1964 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
No image.svg Donald Hornig January 24, 1964January 20, 1969
Lee A. DuBridge 1961.png Lee DuBridge January 20, 1969August 31, 1970 Richard Nixon
No image.svg Ed David August 31, 1970January 26, 1973
Guyford Stever.jpg Guyford Stever OSTP 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 15, 2021
20161006-OSEC-RBN-7275 (30189848116).jpg Kei Koizumi
Acting
January 20, 2021January 25, 2021 Joe Biden
Eric Lander July 2021.jpg Eric Lander January 25, 2021February 18, 2022
Francis Collins official photo.jpg Francis Collins
Acting
February 18, 2022October 3, 2022
Arati Prabhakar by christopher michel 5-9-23.jpg Arati Prabhakar October 3, 2022present

See also

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References

  1. Jeannie Baumann (September 22, 2022). "Senate Confirms Prabhakar to Lead White House Science Office" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: Bloomberg Law. Retrieved January 8, 2023.