Francisco J. Ayala
Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Francisco J. Ayala is the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He has been President and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993-1996), and member of the U.S. President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1994-2001). He received the National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush on 12 June 2002.
I was born in Madrid, Spain, and came to the United States in 1961 to study at Columbia University. I graduated in 1963 (M.A.) and 1964 (Ph.D.). I have been a faculty member at Rockefeller University (1967-1971) and at the University of California, Davis (1971-1987) and Irvine (since 1987). I became a U.S. citizen in 1971.
My scientific research focuses on population and evolutionary genetics, including the origin of species, genetic diversity of populations, origin of malaria, population structure of parasitic protozoa, and the molecular clock of evolution. I also write about the interface between religion and science, and on philosophical issues concerning epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of biology.
I am a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society; fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the California Academy of Sciences. I am a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome), the Mexican Academy of Sciences, and the Latin American Institute for Advanced Studies. I have received honorary degrees from universities in various countries, including Spain, Italy, Greece, and Russia.
I have received other honors, such as the Gold Honorary Gregor Mendel Medal from the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Sciences of Italy, the President's Award of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the AAAS, the Medal of the College of France, the UCI Medal from the University of California, the Distinguished Scientist of the Year Award from SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science), and the William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement from Sigma Xi.
I have served professional societies and the Federal Government in various ways: President of the Society for the Study of Evolution; member of the Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; the National Advisory Council of the Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH); the National Advisory Council for the Human Genome Project; the Executive Committee of the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency; the Commission on Life Sciences, and the Board on Basic Biology of the National Research Council. I was the Founding Chairman (1996-2000) of the Advisory Board of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
My association with Sigma Xi has been long and rewarding. I became a member in 1964 and have lectured in numerous chapters, starting around 1965 at the DuPont Chapter in Wilmington, Delaware. I am particularly grateful to the Orange County Chapter, where I have also lectured, because it was their President, Dr. Stanley A. White, who nominated me for the William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, which I received in 2000. During the two years when I was a Sigma Xi National Lecturer (1993-1995), I visited numerous university and non-university chapters. I have participated in annual meetings, most recently in Albuquerque (November 2000), where I gave a plenary-session lecture on "Science and Science Education in the U.S." within the Forum on "New Ethical Challenges in Science and Technology," as well as a banquet lecture on "Copernicus and Darwin, and the World They Led Us Into".
I admire American Scientist as a prime science and science-education journal, not only because of its large circulation, but also because of its focus and breadth. Some of my most cited scientific papers were published in American Scientist. Moreover, where else could I have published on topics related to science, such as the use of scientific experts in the courts of law ("Science and the Courts," 1993) or the philosophy of science ("Biology as an Autonomous Science," 1968, an article reprinted in numerous collections and readers up to the present)?
Candidate's Statement
If I were elected President of Sigma Xi, I would focus my leadership on four issues: (1) federal and other support for scientific research, particularly investigator-initiated research, including the Grants-in-Aid of Research; (2) science education in K-12 and scientific literacy of the public; (3) protection of the environment and preservation of biological diversity; and (4) international science and environmental leadership. Sigma Xi's chapter structure may be put to good use in seeking these objectives.
The future of colleges and universities, as well as the economic welfare and industrial leadership of the United States, depends on the success with which we preserve and enhance the scientific base of our educational and economic activities. It has been said that more than 90% of all economic activity depends one way or another on scientific discovery. It is imperative that federal and other support, particularly for investigator-initiated research, be preserved and enhanced. The case must be made to the federal government and Congress, and to the people who are the ultimate source of the public purse, that investment in scientific and engineering research pays back handsome financial returns. I would seek to expand the extremely effective Grants-in-Aid of Research program of Sigma Xi.
Science literacy is necessary for the fruition of life in a modern society that is ever more technologically driven. The rational exercise of civil rights and the full participation in social life depend on some understanding of the scientific and technological principles involved in individual and government decisions. Understanding science, moreover, enhances the willingness of the public to invest in scientific research. Yet much of the public is scientifically illiterate. There is urgent need to enhance science and math education in the schools. The press, TV, and other media, as well as museums and cultural institutions, are means for educating the public and increasing scientific literacy. I would explore additional ways for our national office and local chapters to become engaged in promoting science education and scientific literacy.
The world's environment and natural resources must be protected for future generations. The United States should be the leader, rather than a reluctant follower, in transforming the lifestyle of the world's nations from environmental insult and destruction to preservation and enhancement. Scientific knowledge and technological know-how are crucial for achieving the transformation.
The United States is the world's greatest economic power and dominant political force; it is also the undisputed leader in science and technology. The United States can and should lead the world's nations toward a new, environmentally sane world order. The United States also can and should exercise leadership toward enhancing international cooperation in scientific research and technological development. I welcome Sigma Xi's recent decision to increase its international activities. For reasons of background and conviction, these are very congenial to me. We could expand international Sigma Xi chapters, whether in individual institutions or in sets of them within the same country. Sigma Xi counts 71,000 members, but it is little known outside the U.S. Sigma Xi's traditions and activities would benefit other countries and will benefit us in return.
Eamon M. Kelly
Chair, National Science Board
Eamon Michael Kelly, Professor of International Development and Technology Transfer at Tulane University, is the first social scientist to be elected Chairman of the Board of the National Science Foundation. Kelly is the President Emeritus of Tulane University, having served as its president for seventeen years. He is the former Chairman of the Association of American Universities, comprised of over sixty major research universities in the United States and Canada. Kelly is the original Chairman of the Satellite Working Group, which established the first nationwide private satellite system in the United States for the benefit of the Public Broadcasting Service. His current teaching and research interests focus on the role of science and technology, especially information technology, in the developing world. If he is elected President of Sigma Xi, Kelly will be the first social scientist to hold this position.
Kelly was born in New York City and attended Columbia University from 1960 to 1965, where he earned the master and Ph.D. degrees in economics. Following graduation from Columbia, he joined the Penn State faculty at University Park, Pennsylvania.
In 1968, Kelly was appointed to U.S. government service by the President, serving as Director of Policy Formulation with the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was later named Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, where he participated in planning and initiating the federal government's first minority economic development program. Kelly joined the Ford Foundation in 1969 and served as Officer-in-Charge for the Office of Social Development, the Foundation's largest domestic and civil rights division. In 1975, he was named Officer-in-Charge of a $50 million social investment portfolio where, among other projects, he developed the nation's first private domestic satellite system; a by-product of this project was the creation of the National Captioning Institute to provide closed captioning for the hard of hearing.
In 1977, Kelly served as a special consultant to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he participated in drafting legislation that provided a $1.7 billion guarantee to prevent the insolvency of New York City. Later that year, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. In that position, he successfully directed a government-wide investigation of the Teamster's $1.4 billion Central States Pension Fund and led negotiations resulting in the Fund being transferred to private management. After leaving the Labor Department, Kelly returned, at the request of the Secretary of Labor, to direct efforts that ended a nationwide coal strike.
In 1981, he was chosen to serve as the 13th president of Tulane University. In July 1998, Kelly retired as president of the university. During his tenure as President, he was credited with leading Tulane into an unprecedented period of growth; Tulane increased its endowment sevenfold; the quality of the faculty and student body reached new heights; and the campus underwent dramatic changes with the construction of several new buildings and the renovation of many others. Currently, Kelly, whose area of specialized interest is international urban and rural development, holds the rank of professor in the departments of Economics, Latin American Studies, International Health and Development, Sociology, and the Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer.
Kelly is active on the boards of many professional, philanthropic, civic, and corporate organizations. He is currently Chair of the U.S China Center for Energy and the Environment and the Geneva based International Centre for Migration and Health. In 1995, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Science Board (NSB), the governing body of the National Science Foundation. In 1998, Kelly was elected Chairman of the NSB and re-elected in 2000.
Candidate's Statement
Science and technology (S&T) have never played as crucial a role in our economic and social well being as they do today. The global nature of S&T and the cooperation and collaboration occurring around the world are providing new venues for exploration and discovery. While the international community is remarkable, the success of science and technology is built on a network of local efforts to support science and math education and individual research efforts to realize the future of scientific innovation. These local efforts are the foundations of science's future much as the network of local chapters of Sigma Xi under gird the important work of the Society within the United States and abroad-both in its service to S&T and in its commitment to the public's understanding and appreciation of S&T's contributions to society at large. The success of Sigma Xi is attributed not only to the Society's history of strong leadership, but also to these strong local chapters and the grass roots networks they support.
If elected, I will build on Sigma Xi's achievements by working to continue to strengthen its network of chapters while developing strategic partnerships that will further integrate local chapters into new national and international initiatives. I will make a special effort to see that Sigma Xi maintains a special focus on science education and workforce development by assisting the local chapters' involvement at both the local and national levels. Through this focus the Society will be better able to support efforts to provide quality math and science education across the country. This outreach is critical in attracting more students to the study of science and technology, especially among minorities and women.
Sigma Xi plays an important role, both in the scientific community and the larger public, through its service to science, and I will work to expand this role while supporting the excellent programs the Society is known for today. As President, I will provide the Society my experience as an executive, as the Chairman of a wide variety of organizations, and as a specialist in science policy and management, in order that Sigma Xi will continue to play a prominent role in the advancement of S&T both in the United States and abroad. By continuing to revitalize and expand local chapters, and to develop their relationship with Sigma Xi's national activities and other national and international issues, the Society will have an exceptional ability to engage the public in an open dialogue on the critical role of basic research as well as on such pressing issues as the environment, energy, workforce development, and educational reforms in math and science.
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