BEMENT CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR OF NIST: On November 30, the Senate
confirmed Arden Bement, Jr. as Director of the Department of Commerce's
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Bement comes to NIST
from Purdue University, where he was David A. Ross Distinguished Professor
of Nuclear Engineering and headed the School of Nuclear Engineering.
Bement is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and
has been a member of the National Science Board. His background
includes positions as vice president of science and technology
for TRW Inc., deputy under secretary of defense for research and
engineering, director of DARPA's Office of Materials Science, and
professor of nuclear materials at MIT. He has been director of
the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium and the Consortium for
the Intelligent Management of the Electrical Power Grid.
Bement has served as head of NIST's private-sector policy
committee, the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. He
also headed the advisory committee for NIST's controversial
Advanced Technology Program, and was on the Board of Overseers
for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
In a NIST press release, Commerce Secretary Don Evans said, "The
addition of Arden Bement completes a stellar 'tech team' for the Bush
Administration. He brings a wealth of experience in both the private
and public sector vital to this position. With Dr. Bement leading our
nation's premier federal lab, we look forward to making the Technology
Administration the portal for the technology community to the federal
government."
ORBACH TO BE NOMINATED TO HEAD DOE OFFICE OF SCIENCE: President
Bush on December 11 announced his intention to nominate Raymond Orbach
to be Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Orbach
is currently Chancellor of the University of California Riverside, where
he is also a professor of physics. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor
in 1992, he served for 10 years as Provost of UCLA's College of Letters
and Science. Orbach has held visiting professorships at institutions
in several countries, including the Imperial College of Science and
Technology in London, the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle
de la Ville De Paris, and Tel Aviv University, and has served on numerous
professional, scientific, and civic boards.
According to a press release put out by UC Riverside, the student
body at the Riverside campus almost doubled to more than 14,400
students during Orbach's tenure. A million square feet of new
teaching, research and office space has been added, the faculty
has been enlarged, and construction of additional laboratory and
housing space is underway.
According to the press release, Orbach said of his impending nomination,
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to help my country achieve
at the highest scientific levels. I am gratified by President Bush's
trust and I am committed with all of my heart to his aggressive program
furthering the nation's scientific endeavors." DOE's Office
of Science is responsible for the department's civilian research in
high energy and nuclear physics, fusion energy sciences, basic energy
sciences, biological and environmental research and computational science,
and ten DOE civilian laboratories.
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