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A special introduction
“It’s not often you get introduced by a Nobel Prize winner,” said US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman (photo), former professor of chemical engineering at MIT and CEO of a Fortune 300 company. Speaking at the annual Council of Presidents meeting of the Universities Research Association, which manages Fermilab, Bodman was introduced by David Baltimore, President of Caltech and 1975 Nobel Prize winner for his work with enzymes related to HIV and AIDS.
The meeting took place in February, three days after Bodman had announced the much-anticipated Department of Energy budget request for the fiscal year 2007. “The President has committed to doubling funding [for the DOE Office of Science] over the next 10 years,” he said. “If all goes according to what [the President] proposed, Ray will have an extra half-billion dollars to work with.”
Bodman was referring to Raymond Orbach, Director of the DOE Office of Science, who has been nominated for a newly-created position as the first Undersecretary of Science. Bodman also addressed the need for US advancement in science and technology in an increasingly competitive world. “Not only will we support research that might help cure diseases, protect our country, and support productivity, but this [budget request] also supports education for those who will take part in this process in the future,” he said. “As an engineer and a former university professor myself, I am very pleased to stand before you and pledge to you that this government is committed to holding up our end of the bargain, and I rest assured that you and your colleagues will do the same.”
Siri Steiner
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