Recent Science and Technology Departures and Nominations
Posted by David Bruggeman on January 21, 2011
I’ve been lax in reporting on new nominations and appointments for science and technology positions. In the U.S. that’s going to have to change, with some departures in key technology positions in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Beth Noveck, who has been involved in many of the government’s efforts in open government, is returning to her position at New York Law School. Andrew McLaughlin, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, will also be leaving government service. In a different area of science and technology policy, the Deputy Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration has left to head the public health operations for the State of Maryland. He’s been very important in that agency’s effort to overhaul its public health functions.
There’s often a shuffling of positions two years into an administration, but given the relative lack of attention/serious amount of time needed to make appointments in this area, the jobs may go unfilled for a while.
Then there are new nominations to recognize. The President recently announced the nomination of Dan Ashe to head the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ashe currently serves as the Service’s Deputy Director for Policy. Ashe has worked at the Fish and Wildlife Service for over 15 years, most recently serving as Science Adviser to the Director. Hopefully the Office of Science and Technology Policy can bend his ear on how he developed a Code of Scientific and Professional Conduct (if they haven’t already) for their scientific integrity recommendations. He holds a masters degree in Marine Affairs.
Dr. Kathy Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space and the Director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy at Ohio State, has been nominated for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Observation and Prediction. This would be a senior position within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), responsible for the National Weather Service, the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service and other parts of NOAA that handle observations and predictions. Sullivan had previously served as Chief Scientist for NOAA.
No sense guessing on when Ashe or Sullivan may be confirmed. The Senate isn’t even back in session until next week.
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First Federal CTO Chopra Steps Down; OSTP Down Another Associate Director « Pasco Phronesis said
[...] The Chief Technology Officer is officially an “Assistant to the President” and Chopra also holds the position of Associate Director for Technology at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). (OSTP Director Holdren didn’t mention this in his post on Chopra’s departure.) I do not know if Chopra’s eventual successor will continue this relationship, as it seems that Chopra’s focus was more on the use of technology in the functions of governments rather than on the more traditional OSTP focus on supporting and encouraging the development of technology. The Technology Division at OSTP did have staff focused on digital and open government initiatives, but they have left. [...]