MIT President Charles M. Vest has been appointed to President George W. Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
Vest served on President Bill Clinton's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1993 to 2001.
The council's 24 members, most of whom are academics or executives of high technology firms, met with Bush for the first time on Wednesday in an administrative session at the White House.
John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said a subcommittee would study ways to combat terrorism, including how to develop better detectors for biological weapons, better baggage scanners and better systems for sanitizing contaminated mail.
Other subcommittees will advise Bush on federal investments in science and technology, energy efficiency, and on broadband deployment.
While the initial meeting was held behind closed doors, the council's quarterly regular meetings will be open to the public.
Other members of PCAST:
Charles Joel Arntzen, chair of the Plant Biology Department at Arizona State University; Norman R. Augustine of Maryland, former chair and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp.; Carol Ann Bartz of California, president and CEO of Autodesk Inc.; M. Kathleen Behrens of California, managing director of Robertson, Stephens and Co.; Erich Bloch of the District of Columbia, former director of the National Science Foundation; Stephen B. Burke of Pennsylvania, president of Comcast Cable Communications; Gerald Wayne Clough, president of Georgia Tech; Michael S. Dell of Texas, chair and CEO of Dell Computer Corp.; Raul Fernandez of Maryland, president, chair and CEO of Proxicom Inc.; Mary Anne Fox, chancellor of North Carolina State University; Martha Gilliland , chancellor of University of Missouri-Kansas City; Ralph E. Gomory of New York, president of the Alfred E. Sloan Foundation; Dr. Bernadine P. Healy of Ohio, outgoing president of the American Red Cross and former director of the National Institutes of Health; Robert J. Herbold of Washington state, executive vice president of Microsoft Corp.; Barbara Kilberg , president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council;, Walter E. Massey of Georgia, president of Morehouse College; Gordon E. Moore of California, chair emeritus of Intel Corp.; E. Kenneth Nwabueze of California, CEO of SageMetrics; Steven G. Papermaster of Texas, chair of Powershift Group; Luis M. Proenza of Ohio, president of the University of Akron; George M. Scalise of California, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
