Dept. of State Names CCST Board Member Bruce Alberts Science and Technology Envoy

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced new initiatives to bolster science and technology collaboration with Muslim communities around the world. CCST Board Member Bruce Alberts, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, and former President of the National Academy of Sciences, was one of the three first U.S. Science and Technology Envoys announced.

“We want to help Muslim majority communities develop the capacity to meet economic, social and ecological challenges through science, technology, and innovation,” Secretary Clinton said in the announcement.

The U.S. Science Envoy program is part of President Obama’s “New Beginning” initiative with Muslim communities around the world. Obama pledged that the United States would “appoint new science envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops.”

In addition to his work in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology, Alberts was also instrumental in developing the landmark National Science Education standards that have been implemented in school systems throughout the U.S.

In the coming months, the first Science Envoys will travel to countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. They will engage their counterparts, deepen partnerships in all areas of science and technology, and foster meaningful collaboration to meet the greatest challenges facing the world today in health, energy, the environment, as well as in water and resource management.

Additional U.S. scientists and engineers will be invited to join the Science Envoy program to expand it to other Muslim countries and regions of the globe.