President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology

President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

Establishment Under President Bill Clinton

"President Clinton established the PCAST (E.O. 12882) on November 23, 1993. PCAST serves as the President's highest level, private sector advisory group for science and technology. PCAST members are distinguished individuals who are recognized for significant achievements and are representative of the diverse perspectives and expertise in the U.S. science and technology establishment. They are appointed by the President and are selected from industry, education and research institutions, and other nongovernmental organizations.

"The PCAST is chaired by John H. Gibbons, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and by John A. Young, former President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.

Members

Members under President Barack Obama:

• Co-chair: John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President
• Co-chair: Eric Lander, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
• Vice Chair: William Press, Professor of Computer Science and Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin
• Vice Chair: Maxine Savitz, Vice-president of the National Academy of Engineering, Retired general manager of Technology Partnerships at Honeywell, Inc
• Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan
• Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine
• Christopher Chyba, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs at Princeton University
• S. James Gates Jr., John S. Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland, College Park
• Mark Gorenberg, Managing Director of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
• Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Richard C. Levin, President of Yale University
• Chad Mirkin, George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University
• Mario J. Molina, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as Director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment in Mexico City
• Ernest J. Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at MIT
• Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer at Microsoft Corp
• Ed Penhoet, Director of Alta Partners
• Barbara Schaal, Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor, Washington University in St. Louis
• Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman and a former CEO of Google Inc.
• Daniel Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is also Director of the Harvard University Center for Environment
• David E. Shaw, Chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research; Senior Research Fellow at Columbia University
• Ahmed Zewail, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Director of the Physical Biology Center at Caltech

Past Members:

PCAST as of 1995:

• Co-chair: John H. Gibbons, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
• Co-chair: John A. Young, former President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co

John A. Young, former President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co

• Norman R. Augustine, President, Lockheed Martin Corporation
• Franciso J. Ayala, Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine
• Murray Gell-Mann, Professor, Santa Fe Institute; R.A. Millikan Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology
• Peter H. Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden; Engelmann Professor of Botany, Washington University in Saint Louis
• Sally K. Ride, Director, California Space Institute; Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego
• Judith Rodin, President, University of Pennsylvania
• Charles A. Sanders, Former Chairman, Glaxo-Wellcone Inc.
• David A. Hamburg, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Phillip A. Sharp, Professor of Biology, Head, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• John P. Holdren, Class of 1935 Professor of Energy, University of California, Berkeley
• David E. Shaw, CEO, D.E. Shaw & Co
• Diana MacArthur, Chair and CEO, Dynamac Corporation
• Charles M. Vest, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Shirley M. Malcom, Head, Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Virginia V. Weldon, Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Monsanto Company
• Mario J. Molina, Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Lilian Shiao-yen Wu, Member, Research Staff, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM

Staff

Past Staff Members:

Staff as of 1995:

• Angela Phillips Diaz, Executive Secretary, President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Michael E. Kowalok, Policy Analyst, President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology

Resources and Articles

External Resources

PCAST Publications

2008:

• "University-Private Sector Research Partnerships in the Innovation Ecosystem"

1997:

• "PCAST Report on Sustainable Development," January 7, 1997.
• "PCAST Letter on Cloning, March 7, 1997.

1996:

• "PCAST Second-Term Science and Technology Initiatives, December 6, 1996.

External Articles

• John Howard "Jack" Gibbons, "Biotechnology: Opportunity and Challenge," National Biotechnology Summit, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C., January 24, 1994.