Last March, Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla.) startled many in the science community by announcing that he was calling it quits after 24 years in the House, all of it serving on various science-oriented committees. The chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology for the past eight years, the 53-year-old Fuqua has decided to embark on a second career as president of the Aerospace Industries Association, a Washington-based organization representing space and defense contractors.
Under his direction, a Task Force of the full Committee in 1984 undertook a massive two-year study of national science policy. A draft of the Task Force report is due by the end of the year. At press time, Fuqua was preparing a final version of a "chairman's statement" that will accompany the report.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Fuqua took a B.S. in agricultural economics from the University of Florida in 1957 and served ...