Event Summary
In the annual Lewis M. Branscomb lecture sponsored by the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Neal Lane, former Science Advisor to President Clinton and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, spoke on "Science on Pennsylvania Avenue."
Lane, a former director of the National Science Foundation and now a professor at Rice University, pointed out that with the exception of biomedical research, federal funding for science and technology is not a priority item in Washington, despite the strong support that science and technology enjoys with both the American public and members of Congress.
Lane urged that a serious dialogue take place between scientists and the larger public, stressing the benefits of science and technology and the lack of conflict between basic science and science motivated by the promise of utility. Lane concluded that the science and technology community must become more adept in its political activism and lobbying efforts.
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/iip/
(Bonnie Burns contributed to this article.)