Office of Science and Technology Policy

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Agency overview
Formed	May 11, 1976; 45 years ago (1976-05-11)
Preceding agency	Office of Science and Technology
Headquarters	Eisenhower Executive Office Building 725 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees	45
Agency executives	Eric Lander, Director Alondra Nelson, Deputy Director
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President
Website	WhiteHouse.gov/OSTP

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The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.

The director of this office is colloquially known as the Science Advisor to the President. The current director is mathematician Eric Lander who was sworn in on June 2, 2021.^[1]

History[]

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2020)

President Ford signing H.R. 10230, establishing the Office of Science and Technology Policy

President Richard M. Nixon eliminated the President's Science Advisory Committee after his second Science Advisor, Edward E. David Jr., resigned in 1973, rather than appointing a replacement. In 1975, the American Physical Society president Chien-Shiung Wu met with the new president Gerald Ford to reinstate a scientific body of advisors for the executive branch and the president, which President Ford concurred to do.^[2] The United States Congress then established the OSTP in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead inter-agency efforts to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end.

Under President Donald Trump, OSTP's staff dropped from 135 to 45 people.^[3] The OSTP director position remained vacant for over two years, the longest vacancy for the position since the office's founding.^[4][5][6] Kelvin Droegemeier, an atmospheric scientist who previously served as the vice president of research at the University of Oklahoma, was nominated for the position on August 1, 2018^[7] and confirmed by the Senate on January 2, 2019. Michael Kratsios was nominated by President Trump to be the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States and Associate Director of OSTP in March 2019^[8] and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2019.^[9]

President Joe Biden named, and the senate later unanimously confirmed,^[10] Eric Lander as head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which is a cabinet-level post.^[11]

Public-facing key staff[]

Key positions vary among administrations and are not always published online.^[12]

• Director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy: Eric Lander
• Chief Technology Officer of the United States: Vacant

Directors[]

List of OSTP directors*^[13]

No.	Portrait	Name	President	Term
1		H. Guyford Stever	Gerald Ford	1976–1977
2		Frank Press	Jimmy Carter	1977–1981
–		Benjamin Huberman (acting)	Ronald Reagan	1981
3		George A. Keyworth, II		1981–1985
–		John P. McTague (acting)		1986
–		Richard G. Johnson (acting)		1986
4		William Robert Graham		1986–1989
–		Thomas P. Rona (acting)		1989
–		William G. Wells (acting)	George H. W. Bush	1989
5		D. Allan Bromley		1989–1993
6		John H. Gibbons	Bill Clinton	1993–1998
–		Kerri-Ann Jones (acting)		1998
7		Neal F. Lane		1998–2001
–		Rosina Bierbaum (acting)	George W. Bush	2001
–		Clifford Gabriel (acting)		2001
8		John H. Marburger III		2001–2009
–		Ted Wackler (acting)	Barack Obama	2009
9		John Holdren		2009–2017
Vacant			Donald Trump	2017–2019
10		Kelvin Droegemeier		2019–2021
–		Kei Koizumi (acting)	Joe Biden	2021
11		Eric Lander		2021–present

* Italics indicate provisional occupants

See also[]

• Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• National Science and Technology Council
• President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
• Science Advisor to the President

References[]

External links[]

• About OSTP, official website
• Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Federal Register
• The President's Office of Science and Technology Policy: Issues for Congress Congressional Research Service