Chemist Zare to chair National Science Board

Abstract

Richard N. Zare, 56, Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University, was elected chairman of the National Science Board (NSB) at its May 8-10 meeting. He is the fifth chemist to lead NSB, out of 14 chairmen since the board was formed in 1950. He succeeds Frank H. T. Rhodes, president of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. For the next two years, Zare will head what is arguably the nation's highest level advisory board for science and technology. Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas, El Paso, was elected vice chairman. NSB has dual responsibilities: It acts as a national science policy adviser to the president and Congress, and it is the governing body for the National Science Foundation. NSB's 24 members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Members are selected because of their prominence in basic or medical sciences, social sciences, engineering, agriculture, education, research management, and public ...