John Marburger (1941-2011) Physicist and Longest-Serving US Presidential Science Adviser

COMMENT OBITUARY John Marburger (1941-2011) Physicist and longest-serving US presidential science adviser.

hysicist, university president and tritium. Marburger took on the job of behind the scenes from 2001 to 2009 as science adviser to former US president rebuilding public trust in the institution the longest-serving US science adviser. He George W. Bush, John H. Marburger III through openness and transparency. He briefed the president and agencies follow- Poften placed himself at the centre of difficult invited external regulators to sample the ing the September 2001 terrorist attacks situations. He won widespread respect and water and declared that no data would be and anthrax scares, and helped to orient US admiration for his cool temperament, fair- withheld. “We can’t stonewall,” he said. research and development programmes in ness and humanity. A colleague character- Marburger turned around Brookhaven’s the nascent Department of Homeland Secu- ized him as “one of the most effective and reputation, receiving accolades from envi- rity. He also oversaw a massive increase in farsighted scientific administrators of the ronmental groups long critical of the lab. medical-research spending and the response postwar period”. Marburger also faced intense His commitment to public engagement was to the loss of space shuttle Columbia in 2003. criticism. During a public interview in 2005, I Marburger, who died on 28 July 2011 aged pressed Marburger to react to allegations 70, was born on Staten Island, New York, and that there was a systematic effort under way grew up in Severna Park, Maryland. In 1962, at the administration to undermine scientific he completed a bachelor’s degree in physics integrity across the government. Marburger at Princeton University, New Jersey, going on responded that such allegations — summa- to earn a PhD in applied physics at Stanford rized at the time in reports by the Union of D. FAVRE/ARC/REUTERS University in Palo Alto, California, in 1967. Concerned Scientists and Congressman He joined the faculty of the University of Henry Waxman (Democrat, California) — Southern California in Los Angeles, where amounted to little more than a conspiracy his research focused on non-linear and quan- theory. “I don’t give a lot of mental space to tum optics, but he soon began to take on a it,” he said, “I don’t think that it is seriously series of challenging administrative posts. affecting science in the United States.” In 1972, he became chair of the phys- Although partisans continue to argue ics department and four years later was over the Bush administration’s legacy, time appointed dean. In 1980, at the age of 39, has shown Marburger’s judgement to be cor- he was made president of Stony Brook Uni- rect on at least two counts. First, US science versity in New York. Not long after, Mario remains strong. During his tenure, federal Cuomo, the state governor, asked Marburger research budgets grew by the largest amount to chair a commission to give scientific advice in a generation. Second, after his departure, on the future of the Shoreham nuclear power issues of scientific integrity continue to be facility, then under construction but with an problematic under the administration of uncertain future due to technical problems, President Barack Obama, and remain beyond cost overruns and public opposition. central to his management approach. When the scope of the science adviser’s office. Marburger’s experiences on the Shoreham the UK newspaper The Sunday Times hyped In conversations I had with him over the commission shaped his thinking about the the new Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at past six years, as a subject of my research role of science in society and scientific advice Brookhaven with the headline “Big Bang and later as a collaborator, Marburger never in politics. Through interacting with the pub- machine could destroy Earth”, Marburger expressed resentment towards his critics. lic, he quickly realized that decision-making formed an expert commission to allay public Earlier in his career he explained that “anger involving nuclear power went beyond techni- concern and foster public interest. is not a useful reaction except symbolically, cal questions or whether facts were right or in a public-relations sense”. How did he keep wrong. “There’s a lot of sociology involved,” THE BUSH YEARS so calm? In his own words, he was an “incur- he said. “If it governs the way people behave, With his demonstrated flair for science, man- able optimist” who found solace in science: then the factual becomes almost irrelevant.” agement and public engagement in highly “physics has been the main stabilizer of my Despite winning approval for his even- politicized settings, his appointment as sci- life.” In the last weeks of his life, Marburger handedness, some criticized him for allow- ence adviser to Bush seemed a natural career finished a book on quantum physics, Con- ing too much public input into the process. step, and one that would be welcomed by the structing Reality which will be published by Countering that “there were democratic scientific community. Yet, from the first hints Cambridge University Press in September. ■ considerations”, Marburger argued that that Marburger was being considered for the this commission was an opportunity for the position, he faced criticism from scientists Roger Pielke Jr is at the Center for Science public to feel that they were being heard. for his defences of (or for being a part of) the and Technology Policy Research, University After stepping down as president at Stony Republican Bush administration. of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. Brook, Marburger returned to research. Just Unlike previous science advisers but He first met Marburger while working on four years later, in 1998, he became direc- consistent with his commitment to trans- the book Presidential Science Advisors: tor of Brookhaven National Laboratory in parency, Marburger declared his political Perspective and Reflections on Science, Upton, New York, then engulfed by public affiliation as a Democrat. Under Bush, he Policy and Politics (Springer, 2010). criticism following a release of radioactive was a consummate public servant, working e-mail: [email protected]