Wikipedia

Office of Science and Technology Policy

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.

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

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

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20th century

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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

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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

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

  • Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and OSTP Director: Arati Prabhakar
  • Deputy Assistant to the President for Cancer Moonshot and OSTP Deputy Director for Health Outcomes: Danielle Carnival
  • Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Strategy: Asad Ramzanali[21]
  • Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society, and Policy: Kei Koizumi
  • Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Deputy Director for National Security: Stephen Welby
  • Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and OSTP Deputy Director for Technology: Karen Kornbluh[22]
  • OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment: Jane Lubchenco
  • OSTP Deputy Director for Industrial Innovation: Justina Gallegos
  • OSTP Deputy Chief of Staff: Jack Cumming
  • OSTP Director of Communications: Jackie McGuinness
  • OSTP Director of Legislative Affairs: Alexandrine De Bianchi

Directors

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List of OSTP directors.[23]

Image Name Start End President
  Guyford Stever August 9, 1976 January 20, 1977 Gerald Ford
  Frank Press January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter
  Benjamin Huberman
Acting 		March 5, 1981 August 1981 Ronald Reagan
  Jay Keyworth August 1981 December 1985
  John McTague
Acting 		January 1986 May 23, 1986
  Richard Johnson
Acting 		May 24, 1986 October 1, 1986
  William Graham October 2, 1986 June 1989
  Thomas Rona
Acting 		June 1989 August 1989 George H. W. Bush
  William Wells
Acting 		August 1989 August 1989
  Allan Bromley August 1989 January 20, 1993
  Jack Gibbons January 20, 1993 April 3, 1998 Bill Clinton
  Kerri-Ann Jones
Acting 		April 4, 1998 August 3, 1998
  Neal Lane August 4, 1998 January 20, 2001
  Rosina Bierbaum
Acting 		January 21, 2001 September 30, 2001 George W. Bush
  Clifford Gabriel
Acting 		October 1, 2001 October 28, 2001
  Jack Marburger October 29, 2001 January 20, 2009
  Ted Wackler
Acting 		January 20, 2009 March 19, 2009 Barack Obama
  John Holdren March 19, 2009 January 20, 2017
  Ted Wackler
Acting 		January 20, 2017 January 11, 2019 Donald Trump
  Kelvin Droegemeier January 11, 2019 January 20, 2021
  Kei Koizumi
Acting 		January 20, 2021 June 2, 2021 Joe Biden
  Eric Lander June 2, 2021 February 18, 2022
  Alondra Nelson
Acting[24] 		February 18, 2022 October 3, 2022
  Arati Prabhakar[4] October 3, 2022 present

See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b "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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