Office of Science & Technology - Eugene Skolnikoff: the Pioneer of Science Diplomacy
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Eugene Skolnikoff: the Pioneer of Science Diplomacy Print E-mail
bridges vol. 20, December 2008 / People in the Spotlight

By Philipp Marxgut


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Renewing American diplomacy and restoring the image of the United States abroad will be a central objective of the new US administration. Science and technology, in which the US is still a leader, could play an important role in achieving this. Urgent global problems demand global partnerships and cooperation. This could be a new opportunity for science in international affairs.

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Prof. Eugene B. Skolnikoff
Eugene B. Skolnikoff is one of the pioneers who recognized the value of S&T in foreign relations. One of the founding fathers of "Science Diplomacy," he has been working on science in foreign policy for almost 50 years. He served on the science advisory staff under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Carter, and has had a distinguished academic career at MIT, where he is now professor emeritus of political science. "I am a political scientist and that's how I approach this. I am very much interested in policy implications and political processes and that's not what political scientists typically get their promotions for. They tend to do esoteric analysis of a narrow subject," says Prof. Skolnikoff, who turned 80 this year but is still extremely active. Working on a variety of different projects, mostly on issues related to global warming, he was also involved in setting up the Center of Science Diplomacy at AAAS in Washington.

He kindly agreed to speak with bridges about his decades-long experience in the field of science and public policy, how the Soviets opened the opportunity for him to join the White House, and why he thinks that global warming is not the most pressing foreign policy issue for science diplomacy.


bridges: Prof. Skolnikoff, you are neither a scientist nor a professional diplomat. But you have been one of the pioneers who recognized the role of S&T in the formulation and execution of foreign policy. How did science diplomacy come to your attention?

Skolnikoff: This happened in a sort of unusual way, which perhaps wouldn't happen today. Well, I was a scientist. I have a master's degree in electrical engineering. And, in fact, I was heading to Oxford to study physics for a doctorate. But I changed my mind. And I started over again and got a bachelor's degree in politics and economics.

After getting the Oxford degrees, I came to MIT to work for a couple of years until I was drafted into the army. During that time I had worked for several of the faculty and also for the President of MIT, James R. Killian. Then came the Soviet Sputnik launch and President Eisenhower named Killian as his first science advisor. Killian asked me to join his staff to work on foreign policy issues. I didn't even have a doctorate at that time. So I learned on the job, worked a lot with the State Department, and got very interested in the subject. And then I realized that this was really what I wanted to do.

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