Remarks

Good evening, everyone: Presidential Awardees, members of the National Academies, and distinguished guests.

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you Dr. John P. Holdren. Dr. Holdren serves our nation in three capacities: As Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and as Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Prior to joining President Obama's administration as science advisor, Dr. Holdren was Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, as well as Director of the independent, nonprofit Woods Hole Research Center.

From 1973 to 1996, he was on the faculty of the University of California–Berkeley, where he co-founded and co-led the interdisciplinary graduate-degree program in energy and resources.

Dr. Holdren holds advanced degrees in aerospace engineering and theoretical plasma physics from MIT and Stanford. He is renowned for his work on energy technology and policy, global climate change, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In December 1995, he gave the acceptance lecture for the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an international organization of scientists and public figures in which he held leadership positions from 1982 to 1997.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Holdren.