In 1976, he became a vice president for engineering and research at Maxwell Labs in San Diego. Two years later he joined Science Applications Inc. in La Jolla, Calif , as corporate vice president. Trivelpiece moved to the Department of Energy in 1981 to serve as assistant secretary for energy research. In that role, he was instrumental in the Reagan administration's decision to support construction of a Superconducting Supercollider (SSC). He also was responsible for DOE'S nonweapon laboratories and for its programs in basic energy research, health and environmental research, high-energy and nuclear physics and magnetic fusion.
Trivelpiece succeeds William D. Carey at the helm of the AAAS, the nation's largest general scientific organization. He was interviewed March 6 at his DOE office by Tabitha M. Powledge, editor of THE SCIENTIST. This is an edited version of their conversation.
There's been dramatic growth in support of basic research in the ...
