One more physicist goes to Congress
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| Former Fermilab physicists Bill Foster (right), now a member of the US House of Representatives, and Gerry Jackson inspect components for a new particle storage ring in 1996. |
Upon becoming the third physicist in the 110th US Congress, Bill Foster called his election “a pretty successful experiment.”
The scientific community hopes it's a statistically significant experiment as well, signaling that the American public may want, and support, more scientists in public office. Foster's win with 53 percent of the vote, in a March special election to fill the seat of retiring Illinois Rep. Dennis Hastert, makes him one of eight people among the 535 voting members of Congress who hold science PhDs. They include physicists Rush Holt of New Jersey and Vern Ehlers of Michigan, both in the House of Representatives.
While the economy, health care, and the war in Iraq were in the forefront of Foster's House campaign, he also touted his scientific credentials in commercials and mailers and on his Web site. He was endorsed by 28 Nobel laureates and many top researchers. Foster pledged to bring the same thorough analysis to politics that he brought to his business—a company that manufactures more than half the theater lighting in the United Statesand to his 22 years as a Fermilab researcher.
While at Fermilab, Foster co-designed the Recycler, an antiproton storage ring that has increased the rate of particle collisions at the lab's Tevatron accelerator. He was one of six employees to win a federal energy award for their use of permanent magnets in the construction of a beam line, which saved water and energy and reduced waste.Foster also worked on the Collider Detector at Fermilab, which discovered the top quark, and designed a computer chip to make faster and more accurate measurements of particle collisions.
Foster says an understanding of science and technology is key to solving the economic and technological challenges of the modern age, from climate change to the feasibility of electronic border fences. “My entire career has been spent solving problems,” he said in a press release. “Washington needs more solutions and less squabbling. As a scientist and businessman, I have the right formula to bring about real change.”
Tona Kunz
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