Two quick cultural items for the weekend. Tomorrow (August 3) the National Academy of Sciences will hold a symposium commemorating its 150th Anniversary. Originally scheduled during the Academy’s annual meeting in April, it was postponed due to the President’s decision to address the Academy. The symposium will be a series of keynote addresses and panel discussions from three historians of science and technology: Daniel Kevles, Peter Westwick and Ruth Schwartz Cowan. It will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time, and be webcast.
During the recent World Science Festival, the NPR puzzle program Ask Me Another taped an episode. I thought it might air that weekend, but it was held until this weekend. The episode is available online, but it should also be airing on NPR stations that carry it sometime Saturday or Sunday. The special guest is math professor Steven Strogatz, and many of the puzzles from the show will have some connection (if only tenuous) with science, technology or math.
In appointment news….
The apparent rapprochement over Presidential appointments seems to have opened the gates just a bit on pending science and technology appointments. I’ve already noted the nominations for National Science Foundation (NSF) Director and for one of the Associate Director positions at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Following quickly on those appointments are names for two more important positions.
Kathryn Sullivan has served as Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since the departure of Jane Lubchenco earlier this year. President Obama opted to have the Senate remove the Acting from her title. Sullivan is an oceanographer and an astronaut, and served previously at NOAA as Chief Scientist before becoming Deputy Administrator responsible for NOAA’s Earth observation functions in 2011. She has also worked for Ohio State University in math and science education positions, as well as the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus.
One of the other vacant Associate Director positions at OSTP is for the Science Directorate. Earlier this week the President nominated Jo Handelsman to fill that position. Handlesman is currently President of the American Society for Microbiology and teaches at Yale University. She was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 25 years, where she directed the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching from 2002-2010.
Once Handlesman and Simon are confirmed, this would leave one open Associate Director position at OSTP – the one for Technology. However, with Tom Kalil running the Directorate as Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation, I suspect there is no rush to find a replacement.
Pasco Phronesis 