CAIRO: US President Barack Obama, on Monday, named Nobel Prize winning laureate in chemistry Ahmed Zewail to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
“This council represents leaders from many scientific disciplines who will bring a diversity of experience and views, said Obama during remarks at the National Academy of Sciences, according to the US Embassy in Egypt’s website.
“I will charge PCAST with advising me about national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation, Obama said.
PCAST is an advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers who will advise the president and vice president and formulate policy in the many areas where understanding of science, technology, and innovation is key to strengthening our economy and forming policy that works for the American people.
PCAST is part of the Executive Office of the President and is administered by the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
It was originally established in 1990 to enable the president to receive advice from the private sector and academic community on technology, scientific research priorities, and math and science education.
Zewail is Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Caltech and Director of the Physical Biology Center. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for his pioneering work that allowed observation of exceedingly rapid molecular transformations. -Daily News Egypt with additional reporting by agencies.
