ThePresident's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise thepresident of the United States on science and technology.
Reagan science advisorJay Keyworth re-established a smaller "White House Science Council" It reported, however, to him, not directly to the president.[1] Renamed PCAST, and reporting directly to the president, a new council was chartered by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush in 1990, enabling the president to receive advice directly from the private and academic sectors on technology, scientific research priorities, and mathematics and science education.[2]
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology mission is to provide advice to the president and the Executive Office of the President. PCAST makes policy recommendations in areas such as understanding of science, technology, and innovation. PCAST is administered by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
PCAST has been enlarged since its inception and currently consists of 24 members and three co-chairs. The council members, distinguished individuals appointed by the president, are drawn from industry, education, research institutions, and other NGOs. The council is administered by an executive director.
On February 1, 2021, less than a month into his presidency, President Biden issued anexecutive order reestablishing the PCAST. He had already announced the 3 co-chairsFrances Arnold,Maria Zuber, andEric Lander before his swearing-in in January 2021. He announced an initial roster of 27 additional members on September 22, 2021.[8]
Francis Collins, acting co-chair, former director of theNational Institutes of Health, who served from February to October 2022 between the resignation of Lander and the swearing in of Prabhakar
On October 22, 2019, after a record 33 months since President Obama's PCAST held its final meeting, the Trump administration issued anexecutive order reestablishing the PCAST, appointing its first seven members:[11][12]
Abraham (Avi) Loeb, a professor of physics atHarvard University, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation and the Black Hole Initiative, and chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of theNational Academies
Theresa Mayer, executive vice president for research and partnerships and professor at Purdue University
Daniela Rus, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
The PCAST under President Obama was co-chaired byJohn P. Holdren andEric Lander. The outgoing membership included:
John P. Holdren was one of two co-chairs of PCAST in addition to his duties as the director of theOffice of Science and Technology Policy in theExecutive Office of the President and assistant to the president for science and technology. Previously he was a professor of environmental policy and director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy atHarvard Kennedy School. He also served concurrently as professor of environmental science and policy in Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and as director of the independent, nonprofitWoods Hole Research Center. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, theNational Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a former president of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship.
William H. Press was one of the two vice-chairs, and is professor of computer sciences at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, has wide-ranging expertise in computer science, astrophysics, and international security. A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, he previously served as Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology at theLos Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2004. He is a professor of astronomy and physics at Harvard University and a former member of theHarvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (1982–1998).
Maxine Savitz was one of the two vice chairs, and is a retired general manager of Technology Partnerships atHoneywell and has more than 30 years of experience managing research, development and implementation programs for the public and private sectors, including in the aerospace, transportation, and industrial sectors. From 1979 to 1983 she served as deputy assistant secretary for conservation in the U.S. Department of Energy. She currently serves as vice-president of the National Academy of Engineering.
Wanda M. Austin, former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. She was both the first woman, and the first African-American, to hold this position. Austin also served as interim president for the University of Southern California, following the resignation of C. L. Max Nikias. She was both the first woman, and the first African-American, to hold this position.[14][15] In 2009, Austin served as a member of theU.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. The following year, she was appointed to the USDefense Science Board and in 2014 she became a member of theNASA Advisory Council, both of which wereWhite House commissioned. In 2015, Austin was selected by PresidentBarack Obama to serve on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.[16]
Christopher Chyba is professor of astrophysical sciences and international affairs atPrinceton University and a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of theNational Academy of Sciences. His scientific work focuses on solar system exploration and his security-related research emphasizesnuclear andbiological weapons policy, proliferation, and terrorism. He served on the White House staff from 1993 to 1995 at theNational Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy and was awarded aMacArthur Prize Fellowship (2001) for his work in both planetary science and international security.
J. Michael McQuade is senior vice president for science & technology atUnited Technologies Corporation. Prior to joining UTC in 2006, he served as vice president of3M's Medical Division, and before that he was president of Eastman Kodak's Health Imaging Business. He is a member of the board of trustees for Carnegie Mellon University, the board of directors of Project HOPE, and the board of trustees forMiss Porter's School. He serves on advisory and visiting boards for a number of university science and engineering schools. He currently serves as a member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.
Chad Mirkin is the founding director of theInternational Institute for Nanotechnology, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, professor of chemical and biological engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, professor of materials science & engineering, and professor of medicine atNorthwestern University. He is a chemist and a world-renowned nanoscience expert, who is known for his development of nanoparticle-based biodetection schemes, the invention of Dip-Pen Nanolithography, and contributions to supramolecular chemistry. He is one of only fifteen scientists, engineers and medical doctors, and the only chemist to be elected into all three branches of the National Academies, and he has been recognized for his accomplishments with over 90 national and international awards, including the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the Linus Pauling Medal, and the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology.
Mario J. Molina is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at theUniversity of California, San Diego, and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at theScripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment inMexico City. He received theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth's ozone layer ofchlorofluorocarbon gases. The only Mexican-born Nobel laureate in science, he served on PCAST for both Clinton terms. He is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
Craig Mundie is chief research and strategy officer atMicrosoft. He has 39 years of experience in the computer industry, beginning as a developer of operating systems. He co-founded and served as CEO ofAlliant Computer Systems.
Barbara A. Schaal is professor of biology atWashington University in St. Louis. She is a renowned plant geneticist who has usedmolecular genetics to understand the evolution and ecology of plants, ranging from theU.S. Midwest to the tropics. She serves as vice president of the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman ever elected to that role.
Daniel P. 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-wide Center for Environment. He was trained as a marine geochemist and has employed a variety of methods to study thecarbon cycle and climate over a wide range of Earth's history. Awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 2000, he has recently been working on technological approaches to mitigating future climate change.
Ed Penhoet is a director ofAlta Partners. He serves on the board of directors for ChemoCentryx, Immune Design, Metabolex, and Scynexis. He was a co-founder of Chiron and served as the company's president and chief executive officer from 1981 until 1998. He was also a member of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee for theCalifornia Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). From 2004 to 2008 he served as the president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, where he is currently serving on the board. Penhoet was a faculty member of the biochemistry department of theUniversity of California, Berkeley. From July 1998 to July 2002, he served as dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the US Institute of Medicine and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves on the board of Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland.
