But there were also tens of billions of additional dollars for investment in infrastructure of various kinds that underpin our strength in science and technology and the economy more broadly. The energy infrastructure. The transportation infrastructure. The communications infrastructure. And the benefits of those investments are almost instantaneous. That is as soon as you improve your transportation system, or your energy system, or your information technology infra- structure, your broadband access, and so on, you’re getting benefits essen- tially immediately.
USBE: Are these investments endangered by the growing worry over the deficit?
Dr. Holdren: The president made clear that we were going to freeze discretionary, non-defense spend- ing for the next three years in light of the enormous financial challenges associated with the recent and cur- rent state of the economy. But at the same time he managed within that budget to propose again in the fiscal year 2011 budget substantial real increases in non-defense research and development. And he did it, obviously, by cutting some other programs and projects that were deemed to be less effective or a lower priority.
We’re looking at an increase of something in the range of 5 percent in real terms in non-defense research and development for fiscal year 2011. And I think that will continue. And it will continue because the president understands the critical importance of these investments in science and tech- nology for rebuilding our economy and for addressing the set of chal- lenges that our country faces, from improving our health care system, to getting better health care outcomes for all Americans at lower costs, to ad- dressing the challenge at the intersec- tion of energy and climate change, to bolstering our national and homeland security.
Science and technology play im- mensely important roles in all these domains and the president knows it. So I think, notwithstanding the overall fiscal challenges that we face, we’re going to see the president keeping the commitments he made to increase support from the federal government for the National Science Foundation,
www.blackengineer.com
for the Department of Energy Office of Science, for the National Institute of Standards and Technology Laborato- ries, all of which the president has put on a trajectory to double their budget over the space of a decade.
USBE: Any concern that Congress doesn’t share the president’s un- derstanding here?
Dr. Holdren: Congress is a diverse group. It is quite apparent than not everybody in Congress shares the president’s views. But we have found ways to get the votes to pass the most important measures so far. We got in fiscal 2010 the science and technology funding we wanted and I think we’re going to get them again.
USBE: President Obama has talked about the seemingly insatiable appetite for learning he observed in students in Korea and China and said it does not auger well for the future competitiveness of the United States where many people seem much more laid back about educational achievement. Does that just reflect cultural and economic differences of some sort? Or is the United States in for a rude wake up call?
Dr. Holdren: I know that the president believes, and I certainly believe, that we have to do better in inspiring our kids about science, engi- neering, mathematics and technology. There are a lot of ways to do that. We inspired a generation of young people about science and technology during the period of the space race in the 1960s. I was part of that generation that was influenced by the upwelling of interest in science and technology and engineering and math and the recognition of their importance that accompanied the Soviet Union beating the United States into space with the first launch of a satellite in 1957.
We want to use space again to in- spire our young people. The president has announced a new approach to NASA and its science and technology components and its human space ex- ploration components. We think there is a lot of potential for inspiring kids there. We think the energy challenge is a focus that can inspire more of our young people to become interested and engaged in science, technology, engineering and math. We think that one of the things we can be doing
in this country to get more kids into these domains and to keep them there is to give them more hands-on experience. We have a program that basically goes under the heading of “science labs for every kid” in which we want to make sure that every middle school and high school in this country has a science and engineering laboratory where kids can learn about science and engineering by doing things rather than just being lectured at. And we supplement that with teacher training programs to make sure we have the teachers who know how to use those laboratory facilities to inspire kids.
The president’s Educate to Inno- vate initiative has already raised over half a billion dollars in private sector and philanthropic sector pledges of money and in-kind services to work on this task of improving STEM educa- tion at the K-12 level including this focus on teacher training, and provid- ing laboratory facilities so that kids get excited about science and engi- neering in a hands-on way. So I think there is a lot we can do to increase enthusiasm for and participation in these fields among our young people. And I should add that we have had a considerable number of events in and around the White House in which we have brought middle school science and math students and high school science and math students.
They meet with the president at
events around the winners of national competitions in science, engineering and math for school kids. Last year, we had an event, astronomy for kids, on the White House lawn with 150 science and math students from the D.C. area and the president and the first lady and the first daughters were there. They spent well over an hour with these 150 kids looking through telescopes, talking to astronauts, and I can tell you from having been there, that set of 150 kids are never going to be the same in terms of their level of interest in science and math. And as the president put it, the discoveries that are out there waiting to be made by these kids if they stay in school and study math and science and reach for the stars are innumerable. We have a president who can inspire young people about this stuff and he’s doing it. v
USBE&IT I Deans Edition SPRING 2010 19
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