Caltech Alum Named Top State Department Science and Technology Adviser
August 01, 2011
Caltech alum E. William (Bill) Colglazier, PhD '71, has been
appointed Science and Technology Adviser to Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. Colglazier retired last month from his positions
as executive officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and
chief operating officer of the National Research Council.
Colglazier is the fourth leader of the Office of the Science and
Technology Adviser to the Secretary, an office whose mission is "to
serve the U.S. national interest by promoting global scientific and
technological progress as integral components of U.S.
diplomacy."
According to a statement from the NAS, the Science and
Technology Adviser serves as an advocate for science-based policy
at the State Department and helps to identify and evaluate
scientific and technical issues that are likely to affect U.S.
strategic and foreign policy interests. Colglazier will also work
to build partnerships with scientific communities both domestically
and internationally, while promoting scientific and technological
capacity building in developing countries.
"I can think of no one who is as broadly knowledgeable of the
state of science and technology across all fields and around the
world," said Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of
Engineering. "Bill knows the people, problems, and possibilities of
science and technology in advancing America's global leadership and
interests."
Colglazier earned his PhD in theoretical physics at Caltech in
1971. He has also studied and worked at the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, at the Institute for Advanced Study at
Princeton, and at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Before becoming executive officer of NAS and the National
Research Council in 1994, Colglazier was a professor of physics and
director of the Energy, Environment, and Resources Center at the
University of Tennessee (1983–91) and the executive director
of the Office of International Affairs (1991–94). He is a
fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of
Science and the American Physical Society.
Previous Science and Technology Advisers to the Secretary of
State include Penn State geneticist Nina Fedoroff, University of
Arizona chemistry professor George Atkinson, and Norman Neureiter,
senior adviser at the Center for Science, Technology, and Security
Policy at the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
