The President's Science and Technology Advisor is John H. Marburger III, who also heads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  Dr. Marburger, former director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was named to the White House position in June 2001, but did not take office until October of that year, following Senate confirmation, nearly ten months after the President's inauguration. 

Issues involving bioethics are high on the agenda of science policy. On August 9, 2001, following months of discussion and debate on the issue of federal policy toward research employing human embryonic stems, President Bush addressed nation to announce his decision on how to deal with this controversial issue. Many Americans, particularly those who oppose abortion (which the President also opposes) are uneasy about this research and oppose the use of federal funds for it because they feel that embryos represent potential human lives. Yet stem cells offer the prospect of great progress in the battle against many diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinsonism. And the embryos used in most stem cell research are excess embryos from fertility clinics which are destined to be discarded anyway. The President's decision was a political compromise, but the issue is far from settled in the minds of researchers as well as patient advocates and activists on all sides.

This is the last in a series of Tidbits of the Week devoted to the authors whose works appear in the just-published 9th edition of Technology and the Future.  Last week's Tidbit profiled Gene Rochlin.  Unlike previous biographical Tidbits, this week's focus is on the President's policies involving science and technology, rather than on his career and writings. President Bush's August 9, 2001, speech to the nation regarding stem cell research is included in the book.

President George W. Bush's biography on the White House web site.

The White House home page.

"Remarks by the President on Stem Cell Research," August 9, 2001.

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Center for Science, Technology and Congress, "Policy Brief on Stem Cell Research." A comprehensive source of background information and links.

Home page of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

"President Bush Calls on Senate to Back Human Cloning Ban," remarks by the President, April 10, 2002.

John Marburger, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, "Science and Technology in a Vulnerable World:  Rethinking Our Roles," keynote address to the 2002 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Colloquium (April 11, 2002).

Chris Mooney, "Political Science: The Bush Administration Snubs Its Science Advisor,"  The American Prospect (Vol. 12, No. 21), December 3, 2001.

"Science and Technology Policy," Science Friday (National Public Radio), March 23, 2001. Discussion of the Bush Administration's science policy with Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives; Rita Colwell, Director, National Science Foundation; John Gibbons, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Clinton; and Donald Kennedy, editor of the journal, Science. (RealAudio)

David H. Guston, E.J. Woodhouse, and Daniel Sarewitz, "A Science and Technology Policy Focus for the Bush Administration," Issues in Science and Technology (Spring 2001). (PDF)

Jeffrey P. Kahn (Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota), "The President's Science Policy," CNN.com.health (November 14, 2000).

Henry Kelly, "A Faith-Based Science Policy," FAS Public Interest Report (Vo. 54, No. 1), January/February 2001.  An editorial.

David Corn, "George W. Bush: The Un-Science Guy," AlterNet.org (June 19, 2001).  A critical view of the President's policies associated with science.