NSB Panel To Help NSF Plan Its Post-Cold War Future

In an effort to cope with hurdles posed by the post-Cold War "new order," National Science Foundation director Walter E. Massey is looking to a 15-member special panel to assist NSF with charting out a "new strategic plan" to the year 2000 and beyond. Massey says he is hopeful that the newly formed Special Commission on the Future of the NSF, which he announced during an August 13-14 presentation before the National Science Board (NSB), will serve to complement the "long-range planning process" being pursued by officials within the agency. The initiatives are part of a sweeping attempt by NSF to address challenges facing the United States science community, challenges that Massey cited at an NSF general staff meeting late last month: "We are seeing an unsettling transition in academic research: There is persistent dissatisfaction with funding, a lack of opportunities for young researchers, and the appearance that research pressures work at cross purposes with teaching. In the end, researchers feel underappreciated, as taxpayers question the value of their investment in the research enterprise." Plans call for the special commission to hold three public meetings this fall and--by late November or early December--report on its findings and recommendations to NSB, which will review and pass on the information to Massey and his staff. Massey said at the NSB presentation that whatever may emerge from the commission with regard to grant levels for researchers, he personally favors a growth approach that would "build our traditional mission and exercise new leadership across a broader spectrum of research areas." "NSF would adopt an expanded portfolio of programs that would be integrated with ongoing activities and closely aligned with industry and other government agencies," Massey said. NSB chairman James Duderstadt, president of the University of Michigan, said in an NSF statement that the special commission "will recommend to the board how best to meet the nation's challenges in research and education--today and for the 21st century." Serving as cochairmen of the commission are William Danforth, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, and Robert Galvin, chairman of the executive committee and former CEO of Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill. Following are the members of the Special Commission on the Future of the NSF: Cochairman--William Danforth, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis; Cochairman--Robert Galvin, chairman of the executive committee and former chief executive officer of Motorola Inc., Schaumburg, Ill.; Jacqueline Barton, professor of chemistry, California Institute of Technology; Lindy Boggs, former congresswoman from Louisiana; Lewis Branscomb, professor of public service, Harvard University; Peter Eisenberger, director, Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University; Marye Anne Fox, professor of chemistry, University of Texas at Austin; C. Peter Magrath, president, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges; Ruben Mettler, retired chairman and CEO, TRW Inc.; Percy Pierre, vice president of research and graduate studies, Michigan State University; Frank Rhodes, president of Cornell University; Earl Richardson, president, Morgan State University; Ian Ross, president, emeritus, AT&T Bell Laboratories; William Rutter, chairman of the board, Chiron Corp.; Donna Shalala, chancellor, University of Wisconsin, Madison. On Capitol Hill, Massey's initiative to set up the special commission won praise from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chairman of the science subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. "I very much welcome the National Science Foundation calling on whatever expertise is available to it to help fashion its agenda for the future," he says. "Obviously, that agenda will be considered ultimately within Congress, and will be molded in partnership with our committee and others who are interested." The science subcommittee's ranking Republican, Rep. Robert S. Walker of Pennsylvania, says Massey has chosen "very competent" people for the commission. "I think these are people capable of giving us some insight into what the post-Cold War National Science Foundation should look like. Hopefully, they'll also look at some of the other considerations--how you assure that the agency can get adequate funding for the future." At the NSF staff meeting, Massey described planning sessions he has had with various managers and groups within the agency: "To date, the long-range planning process has been very productive." During his earlier presentation to the science board, Massey said that "the new strategic plan will determine the direction of the agency's future evolution in an environment that is very different from the one we were in only five years ago." Massey said dramatic changes in the world now require "continuing reassessment of all aspects of science and technology policy." "Superpower tensions have declined, and national security based on military strength will no longer be the predominant federal research and development," he said. "The U.S. economy now competes in a global arena, where success is increasingly linked to capitalizing on scientific advances and new technologies." He added: "I think it is imperative that NSF determine its place in this new order. The continued public support of science requires that science policy both shape and reflect the national temperament." Barton Reppert is a freelance writer based in Gaithersburg, Md.

NSB Panel To Help NSF Plan Its Post-Cold War Future

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