HOUSTON – (Nov. 2, 2022) – The evolution of science policy and expert advice to the White House will be examined in a Nov. 9 webinar featuring a digitized collection of materials related to the history of presidential scientific advising.
The Science and Technology Policy Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy created the “White House Scientist and Science Policy Dynamic Digital Archive” to collect and preserve materials about science policy advisers beginning with the George H.W. Bush administration through the Donald Trump administration — the only repository to collect this data and material from multiple administrations. The publicly accessible, online collection documents the evolution of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and its managing federal agency, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), as well as the lives, careers and policy contributions of its members.
Neal Lane, former director of the OSTP and a Baker Institute senior fellow in science and technology policy, will join the panel discussion on the role of scientists in developing public policy options.
What: Baker Institute webinar, “The President’s Scientists: The Evolving Role of Science Advice to the White House.”
Who: Cyrus Mody, Maastricht University professor of the history of science, technology and innovation; Maxine Savitz, vice chair of the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology; and Lane, with Kenneth Evans, Baker Institute scholar in science and technology policy, moderating.
When: Wednesday, Nov. 9, noon-1 p.m.
Where: Online; the webinar is free, but registration is required. A recording will be available on the event page following the webinar.
This event is co-sponsored by the Baker Institute Science and Technology Policy Program and the Science History Institute. Funding for this event, part of the project “The President’s Scientists,” was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation (SBE No.1854055), the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Humanities Texas and the American Institute of Physics. Additional support was provided by the Baker Institute Civic Scientist Program and a gift from Benjamin and Winifer Cheng.