Forum Elections The 2005 election of officers is now open! The ballot for the next Chair-Elect, Vice-Chair and two members of the Executive Board is now available at http://www.physics.wm.edu/ballot.html All are urged to vote--it is your way of influencing the future of the Forum. The primary responsibility of the Vice-Chair is to coordinate nominations for Forum APS fellows. He/she then succeeds to Chair-Elect to arrange Forum sessions at APS meetings, and then Chair to coordinate the tasks of the Forum. This year both the Chair-Elect and Vice-Chair positions are available due to the resignation of last year's Vice-Chair. Please vote before November 30, 2004. CANDIDATE BIOS and STATEMENTS Candidates for Chair-elect 2005 Caroline L. Herzenberg; Tony Fainberg Caroline L. Herzenberg Background: Dr. Herzenberg is retired from Argonne National Laboratory, where she worked in a number of different areas of applied physics. After receiving a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from the University of Chicago, she held faculty positions at Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois at the Medical Center, and California State University Fresno, and also held a research position at IIT Research Institute. She is a Fellow of the APS, the AAAS, and AWIS; and served as national president of the Association for Women in Science. Within the APS, she chaired the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics, and was a member of the executive committees of both the Forum on Physics and Society and the Forum on the History of Physics. Her work in applied physics has included research in experimental nuclear physics, research in Mossbauer spectrometry including applications to analysis of returned lunar samples, instrumentation development and allied areas. She has also worked in the areas of chemical and radiological emergency preparedness and arms control. Statement: The Forum on Physics and Society has a potentially more significant role at present than in the past, as important issues are now present both with respect to how contemporary American society is affecting science, and how scientific knowledge and its technological implications are affecting our society. Science relies on freedom of inquiry and objectivity. To the extent that our society attempts to curtail freedom of inquiry or to distort objectivity, the wellbeing of science – as well as the wellbeing of our society - is at risk. During the last few years, the role of science and scientists in our society has been subject to an unprecedented degree of misuse. The scientific advisory system has been undermined. Scientific analysis from federal agencies has been suppressed and distorted. Funding for scientific research has lagged while large amounts of funding have been spent unproductively in other areas. But sound public policy must be predicated on sound science. It is important for physicists to be able to offer informed advice and provide guidance on significant science-related issues in our society, and we may need to work to assure that the guidance that we provide is understood and not disregarded. Persistence may be required in efforts to encourage decision makers in American society to understand and accept the results of objective analyses, even when the outcomes are not the outcomes that policy-makers might prefer. Continuity of Forum activities is of importance, and we should extend our work in examining the implications of scientific analyses of societal issues. We need to continue to address the whole range of societal issues in which physics plays a crucial role and in which we have appropriate expertise, including arms control and security issues, energy and environment issues, and international scientific cooperation. We should also continue to promote public understanding of science and emphasize improving the quality of science education. In addition, we need to continue to support and develop the various mechanisms by which physicists can express their concerns and interact with each other in these various areas, and to extend our outreach so as to encourage more physicists to participate in Forum activities and join us in the Forum. As incoming chair-elect of the Forum on Physics and Society, I will work to maintain an active engagement of physicists in societal issues, and I will work to strengthen the Forum on Physics and Society. Tony Fainberg Background: PhD, Experimental Particle Physics, UC Berkeley 1969. Research in residence at CERN, working for University of Turin, Italy, 1970-72. Res. Prof. At Syracuse University, in residence at Brookhaven National Laboratory,1973-77. Switched to applied physics and systems studies at Brookhaven,working in Technical Support Organization for Nuclear Safeguards, 1977-1983.APS Congressional Science Fellow, 1983-84, in office of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, working in science policy, national security issues and foreign policy.1985-1995, senior analyst at Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, working in national security issues, from missile defense to nuclearnon-proliferation as well as early work on the uses of technology to defend against terrorism. 1996-1999, Office Director, Policy and Planning for Civil Aviation Security, Federal Aviation Administration. 1999-2002,Division Director, Advanced Systems Concepts Office, Defense Threat Reduction Agency. 2002, Science Advisor, Transportation Security Administration. 2002-2004, Office Director and Program Manager, Science and Technology Directorate, Dept. of Homeland Security. Former Chair, Forum onPhysics and Society; former member, Panel on Public Affairs, APS; Fellow, APS; member AAAS. Statement: As our society and culture have changed rapidly under new stresses, the public is often late to realize that the playing field and its rules have changed and that goalposts have been moved. Being within an inertial frame, we may not realize for a while that our velocity is appreciable relative to an outside observer. Some of the stresses are political and military -- clearly the terrorist attacks on the US have had a major effect on the way we think and the manner in which the body politic behaves. Other stresses are global in scale, less direct, and less acute; some obvious ones are (likely) anthropogenic global climate change and (certainly) anthropogenic water scarcity. As we have naturally focused on terrorism since 9/11, the nation has apparently lost some interest in other issues, some of which may be at least as important. One thing physicists can do, as physicists, is to remind the nation that, e.g., nuclear non-proliferation is as vital to the national interest as counterterrorism. In fact, the two are clearly linked: the more nuclear weapons are available, the more likely it is that, somehow, they maybe used in a terrorist mode. Outside observers, in Europe and Asia, have not forgotten the importance of non-proliferation, and, indeed, Europeans have fortunately taken the lead in the case of Iran, while the US has been otherwise engaged. And, in the longer, but not that long, term, climate change could affect many more lives directly than terrorism yet has. What can physicists, as physicists, do in general to help the nation? While the body politic is less aware, dwelling within its inertial frame, that current events may divert us from other problems that seriously threaten our national interest (and, indeed, often the interest of the planet), physicists sometimes have the expertise and analytical discipline to bring reality back to the forefront of political consciousness. We are most effective and most heeded, like anyone else, in areas about which we know something. So we have to focus our activities on areas of our expertise, so as to avoid spending our chips of influence on topics about which we have no particular claim to pontificate. Physicists, through the APS, have been effective at influencing public policy in areas such as missile defense and energy conservation, and could be equally effective in analyzing, e.g., climate change, energy policy, and water scarcity issues for the public and for decision makers. I applaud the past activities of the APS to apply physics knowledge and expert authority to scientific and technical issues that affect society at large, and would, through the Forum on Physics and Society, work to continue and expand such efforts, through studies, educational activities, and public outreach. I would seek input from the membership of the Forum on the proper prioritization of topics of activity and on improving our effectiveness in moving public debates and policy decisions. Candidates for Vice-Chair 2005 George Lewis Charles Ferguson George Lewis Background: George Lewis is a Principal Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Associate Director of M.I.T.’s Security Studies Program. He has a Ph.D. in experimental solid state physics from Cornell University (1983). During the next several years, while a Research Associate in Cornell's Department of Applied Physics working on ion beam lithography, he participated in number of educational projects on nuclear arms race related issues, and decided to pursue a career working on technical aspects of international security issues. Following a year each at Cornell’s Peace Studies Program and Stanford’s Center for International Security and Arms Control, he came to M.I.T. in 1989. His research currently focuses on the technology of ballistic missile defenses, the implications of the proliferation of ballistic missiles and of defenses against them, security aspects of satellites and outer space, and the security of nuclear power plants. He is a Fellow of the APS and was a co-recipient (with Lisbeth Gronlund and David Wright) of the 2001 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award of the APS. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Science and Global Security, and since 1990 he has been a co-organizer of the annual International Summer Symposiums on Science and World Affairs, which assist young scientists from many countries who are working on, or planning to work on, security problems as a career. In his hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts (which is within the Emergency Planning Zone of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass.) he is a member of the town’s Nuclear Advisory Committee. He and his wife Hillary have four foster children, all refugees from war-torn Southern Sudan, and four dogs. Statement Many national policy issues hinge on scientific or technical considerations. This is nowhere clearer than in the area that I have chosen to work in, the defense and international security field. However, as we all know, important policy decisions are sometimes made on the basis of poor, biased, incorrect, or even non-existent scientific advice. There is a clear need for unbiased scientific and technical analyses and advice on policy issues, and this need is now arguably greater than ever, given the decrease in technical expertise within the government and increasing governmental trends towards secrecy. I am well aware of the impact that the APS can have, since I work in a field that has been significantly influenced by APS studies such as the 1987 Directed Energy Weapons Study and the more recent Boost-Phase Missile Defense Study. In fact, my own work has been the subject, and beneficiary, of an APS Panel on Physics and Public Affairs-sponsored study: the 1998 Report of the POPA Ad-Hoc Panel on the Technical Debate over Patriot Performance in the Gulf War. I believe that the APS has performed (perhaps not often enough) and can continue to perform an important public service by providing the best possible scientific advice on carefully selected policy questions. However, the ability of the APS to do so is limited if its own members do not understand either the importance of these issues or the significance of their own scientific society weighing in on them. Although the Forum has many roles to play, I see this as its fundamental one: to educate the members of the APS about the societal implications of their work and to encourage both individual members and the Society itself to play a larger role in the national and international debate on political and societal issues that depend on science and technology. Charles Ferguson Background: Dr. Ferguson is a Senior Fellow in Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. His term as Member-at-Large on the Forum’s Executive Committee will end in December 2004. He has helped organize APS Meeting sessions on radiological terrorism and nuclear nonproliferation. Since late 1997, he has applied his scientific training to public policy issues, in particular, nonproliferation, nuclear terrorism, and nuclear safety. Currently, he is directing a project examining the nuclear fuel cycle and the nonproliferation regime. Prior to his current position, he was a Scientist-in-Residence at the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). At CNS, he co-directed a project to assess the dangers of nuclear terrorism and is the lead author of the new book The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism. As part of that project, he has advised the U.S. government on aspects of radioactive materials security. Previous to his work with CNS, he served as a Foreign Affairs Office in the Office of Nuclear Safety at the Department of State. He has also worked as a Senior Research Analyst and Director of the Nuclear Policy Project at the Federation of American Scientists. He has done physics research at the University of Maryland, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Ferguson earned a B.S. with distinction in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987, an M.A. in physics from Boston University in 1994, and a Ph.D. in physics from Boston University in 1996. After graduation from the Naval Academy, he served as an officer on a U.S. nuclear submarine. Statement: Long before the impact of globalization was fully felt in economics, physicists around the globe shared the common languages of science and mathematics that helped them overcome cultural differences. Today, I am concerned about the remaining gap between political leaders and scientists. Most political problems facing the world have a substantial technical dimension, and globalization teaches us that no country can isolate itself. The Forum on Physics and Society has served as a tremendous resource for more than thirty years. Nonetheless, I believe that we should strive to do a better job at bringing scientific analysis to political issues that have technical components, at educating politicians and the public about the important contributions of science to society, and at developing a greater understanding of the political process. Candidates for Executive Committee: 2005 Stephen Benka Daniel Dietrich Mark Goodman Sherrie Preische Stephen Benka Background: Dr. Benka received his PhD in physics from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He was a solar physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and at the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. In 1993, he joined the American Institute of Physics as an associate editor at Physics Today magazine and has now been the magazine's Editor-in-Chief since 1994. In that capacity, he has continually developed, acquired, and brought to publication many dozens of feature articles at the interfaces of science with society, government, education, and the global community. Recent special-issue topics that he spearheaded include National Security (12/00), The Energy Challenge (04/02), and Reaching Out to Undergraduates (09/03). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Statement: With the responsibility for a publication that reaches 120,000 members of ten different physics-related societies, I see a vital part of my job as raising our collective awareness of what physics and physicists offer the larger world in matters of concern to all people. Such matters include education, security, civil liberties and human rights, the environment, international relations, energy, health, military technology, and more. In short, as the mission of AIP declares, "promoting the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics and its application to human welfare." The FPS's members are a wellspring of ideas, words, and actions on behalf of promoting that goal. As a member of the FPS's Executive Committee, I will better optimize my service as a bridge between our Forum and the much wider community of scientists, whom we all wish to further energize. Daniel Dietrich Background: Dr. Dietrich is a senior physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he has worked for over twenty five years. He has led a diverse series of projects involving the application of science to the national interest, ranging from accelerator based atomic physics to oceanography. His current activities involve developing radiation detection systems in support of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy emergency response community. After receiving his PhD (1975) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook he held post doctoral fellowships at the University of Arizona and at the University of California at Berkeley. He joined the staff at LLNL in 1979. During 1985-1986 he held senior fellowship positions at Oxford University and at the University of Paris. Statement: The Forum on Physics and Society provides a venue for effective two-way sharing of knowledge between physicists and policy makers as well as the general public. The involvement of physicists in national security has been a continuous activity since before the Manhattan project. With the advent of the Department of Homeland Security comes a new interest in creative technical solutions to problems of national security along with new opportunities associated with issues such as: 1) the appropriate funding balance between basic research and applied development; 2) the need for classification balanced against the efficiency of open competition, and 3) the role of technical input in the formation of policy. I believe that my background brings a valuable perspective to the FPS. I would encourage the FPS to sponsor a study of the efficacy of DHS efforts to thwart rad/nuc threats and how those efforts interface with chem/bio efforts. I would encourage physicists who work in the classified community to present their findings along with their perspective on the societal implications at the FPS sessions at the APS March and April meetings. I would also promote development of an objective, knowledgeable review system available to advise policy makers and their staff. Mark Goodman Background: Dr. Goodman is a Physical Scientist in the Office of Multilateral Nuclear Affairs at the Department of State, working on nuclear nonproliferation at the Department of State, and before that with the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, since 1995. He oversees U.S. financial and technical assistance the International Atomic Energy Agency, including for safeguards to verify that states are not diverting nuclear materials or misusing nuclear facilities to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. He also advises on verification and nuclear fuel cycle issues in dealing with the nuclear proliferation challenges in North Korea and Iran, the opportunities in Libya, and a prospective Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. After receiving his Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics at Princeton University in 1986, Goodman held postdoctoral research positions at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at University of California-Santa Barbara and Rutgers University. His work at Harvard's Center for Science and International Affairs formed part of a 1991 book with recommendations on U.S. nuclear weapon policy after the Cold War. As an AIP Congressional Science Fellow in 1992-93, Goodman worked for Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) on science, technology, energy, environment, and defense issues. He contributed to reports by the Office of Technology Assessment on civilian satellite remote sensing, and the reports of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. Statement: The mechanisms and institutions for members of the scientific community to address societal issues, where scientific expertise intersects public policy, have eroded significantly in recent years. The Forum on Physics and Society provides one such mechanism for APS members, but it too has become less active. I have had the good fortune to work for two of the finest organizations that brought scientific and technical expertise to bear on public policy issues – the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (which was merged into the Department of State) and the Office of Technology Assessment (which was eliminated). The unfortunate demise of these institutions has made it harder for decision makers in the Executive and Legislative Branches to obtain balanced technical advice on many important issues. Questions have also been raised about the politicization of the scientific advisory process. My chief priority as Forum Councilor would be to work on ways to restore, strengthen and ensure the integrity the institutional mechanisms for interaction between scientists and government. Sherrie Preische Background: Dr. Preische is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, the state agency charged with promoting state economic development through science and technology particularly by building strong research ties between the state’s universities and industry and new tech-based companies. Prior to taking this position, she served as a science and technology policy advisor to Governor McGreevey of New Jersey. This work included detailed recommendations on how New Jersey’s research universities can partner with our high-tech business sector and working closely with university leadership to put these ideas in place. Dr. Preische spent four and a half years working for Congressman Rush Holt (who has himself been active in the Forum) in several capacities, including fundraising for his first successful campaign, in his Washington office supporting the Congressman’s focus on science and research issues, and three years running his New Jersey Congressional office. She holds a doctorate in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University and has conducted research in fusion energy at Princeton and in France. She worked for the American Physical Society with Brian Schwartz supporting efforts to expand the public perception of physics and its relevance in daily life. She also served a three year term 1993-96 on the Executive Committee of the APS Division of Plasma Physics. Statement: I work daily to promote science, including physics, being done to meet some of society’s everyday needs. Having worked for elected officials for several years now, I have a deep respect for the role of our public servants in meeting the needs of taxpayers and that democracy most often means that policy, including science policy, is made to meet needs as the citizens perceive them. I hope to bring this perspective to the work of the Forum. |
