By Roger A. Pielke, Jr.


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John H. "Jack" Marburger has served as science advisor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to the present, making him the longest-serving science advisor since the position was established in 1957.  Now in the final weeks of the Bush Administration, Dr. Marburger has graciously agreed to answer a few questions about his accomplishments, the science advisor's role, and the politicization of science.  

You can see my 2005 interview with Dr. Marburger, as well as interviews with six other previous science advisors, at this web site:
http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/scienceadvisors/

These interviews, along with several analytical and historical essays, are the basis of a new book on presidential science advice that I co-edited with Bobbie Klein, which will appear in 2009.

Interview with John H. Marburger
December, 2008



What do you see as the most significant legacies of your term as science advisor?
 
My OSTP [Office of Science and Technology Policy] colleagues and I worked to maintain US leadership in science and technology into the future.  We worked on so many issues that it is hard to pick the "most significant."  They were all significant to some sector of the economy or the science community or they wouldn't have reached the White House level.  A short list would include: helping to establish a science agency within the Department of Homeland Security, working to prevent the reaction to 9/11 from undermining our participation in global science (student visas, "science vs security" issues), helping to develop a rational vision for space exploration, responding to international challenges to US leadership in high-end computing, preserving the independence of Internet governance, freeing up large blocks of the broadcast spectrum for commercial wireless applications, negotiating IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] assessment reports that could form the basis for US climate policy, getting action on a Next Generation Air Transport System, developing Executive Orders on Aerospace R&D, Broadband, Manufacturing R&D ...  The list is very long.  We played a major role in developing the president's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) and significant roles in energy-related initiatives including ITER [International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor], Hydrogen, Advanced Energy Initiative, and the Climate Change Technology Program.  I am also pleased at the response to my plea for a strengthened "science of science policy."


What advice do you have for your successor?
 
Hire good people, insist on the highest technical quality of all work that comes through the office, and confine your advice to technical issues, not veering onto the turf of other policy shops without a technical reason to do so.  Respond quickly to requests for advice from any source, and make sure work products are synchronized with the budget cycle or the deadlines of the "customer."  Deliver the advice in language the user can understand, and don't make it too long.