Office of Science and Technology Policy

Office of Science and Technology Policy
Agency overview
Formed	May 11, 1976; 48 years ago
Preceding agency	Office of Science and Technology;
Headquarters	Eisenhower Executive Office Building; 725 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees	130
Agency executive	Arati Prabhakar, Director;
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President
Website	WhiteHouse.gov/OSTP

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 traditionally colloquially known as the Science Advisor to the President. A recent appointed director was mathematician and geneticist Eric Lander who was sworn in on June 2, 2021.^[1] Lander resigned February 18, 2022, following allegations of misconduct.^[2]

On February 16, 2022, the Biden administration announced that deputy director Alondra Nelson would serve as acting director and former NIH director Francis Collins would serve as acting science advisor. Both assumed positions on February 18, 2022. In October 2022, Arati Prabhakar became Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.^[3]^[4]

On August 25, 2022, OSTP issued guidance to make all federally funded research in the United States freely available without delay.^[5]^[6]

History

20th century

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.^[7] 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.

21st century

Under President Donald Trump, OSTP's staff dropped from 135 to 45 people.^[8] The OSTP director position remained vacant for over two years, the longest vacancy for the position since the office's founding.^[9]^[10]^[11] 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^[12] 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^[13] and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2019.^[14] During Trump's tenure, Droegemeier also managed the National Science and Technology Council.

President Joe Biden named, and the Senate later unanimously confirmed,^[15] Eric Lander as head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which is a cabinet-level post.^[16] Lander resigned in February 2022 following reports that engaged in abusive conduct against both subordinates and other White House officials.^[17]

In 2022, The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy held a roundtable discussion with some of the nation’s leading scientists to discuss the need to combat the climate crisis and counter arguments for delaying climate action. It is the first time that the White House has recognized scientists who study the climate denial operation run by the fossil fuel industry.^[18]

On August 8, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act which included a provision to create a blockchain and cryptocurrency specialist advisory position under the OSTP to be established and appointed by the Director.^[19]

Staff

Key positions vary among administrations and are not always published online.^[20]

Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and OSTP Director: Arati Prabhakar
Deputy Assistant to the President for Cancer Moonshot and OSTP Deputy Director for Health Outcomes: Danielle Carnival
Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Strategy: Asad Ramzanali^[21]
Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society, and Policy: Kei Koizumi
Special Assistant to the President and OSTP Deputy Director for National Security: Stephen Welby
Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and OSTP Deputy Director for Technology: Karen Kornbluh^[22]
OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment: Jane Lubchenco
OSTP Deputy Director for Industrial Innovation: Justina Gallegos
OSTP Deputy Chief of Staff: Jack Cumming
OSTP Director of Communications: Jackie McGuinness
OSTP Director of Legislative Affairs: Alexandrine De Bianchi

Directors

List of OSTP directors.^[23]

Name	Start	End
Guyford Stever	August 9, 1976	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
Frank Press	January 20, 1977	January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
Benjamin Huberman Acting	March 5, 1981	August 1981	Ronald Reagan
Jay Keyworth	August 1981	December 1985
John McTague Acting	January 1986	May 23, 1986
Richard Johnson Acting	May 24, 1986	October 1, 1986
William Graham	October 2, 1986	June 1989
Thomas Rona Acting	June 1989	August 1989	George H. W. Bush
William Wells Acting	August 1989	August 1989
Allan Bromley	August 1989	January 20, 1993
Jack Gibbons	January 20, 1993	April 3, 1998	Bill Clinton
Kerri-Ann Jones Acting	April 4, 1998	August 3, 1998
Neal Lane	August 4, 1998	January 20, 2001
Rosina Bierbaum Acting	January 21, 2001	September 30, 2001	George W. Bush
Clifford Gabriel Acting	October 1, 2001	October 28, 2001
Jack Marburger	October 29, 2001	January 20, 2009
Ted Wackler Acting	January 20, 2009	March 19, 2009	Barack Obama
John Holdren	March 19, 2009	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
Ted Wackler Acting	January 20, 2017	January 11, 2019	Donald Trump
Kelvin Droegemeier	January 11, 2019	January 20, 2021	Donald Trump
Kei Koizumi Acting	January 20, 2021	June 2, 2021	Joe Biden
Eric Lander	June 2, 2021	February 18, 2022
Alondra Nelson Acting^[24]	February 18, 2022	October 3, 2022
Arati Prabhakar^[4]	October 3, 2022	present