“Science is a public good … By sharing our discoveries widely, we can have the entire world benefit from what we’re doing, but there have been special benefits that have accrued to the U.S. by being in a leadership position,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, at a plenary session at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Boston on February 14. “I think it’s very important that we stay on top and that we reestablish the U.S. as a leading scientific nation.”  

McNutt is one of more than 60 leaders in science, industry, education, philanthropy, and public policy appointed to a bipartisan task force for developing a Vision for American Science and Technology (VAST) — a road map to ensure U.S. global leadership in S&T. The panel discussion also included fellow task force members France Córdova, president of the Science Philanthropy Alliance; Kelvin Droegemeier, special advisor to the Chancellor for Science and Policy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Sudip S. Parikh, chief executive officer of AAAS.  

The speakers discussed opportunities outlined in an upcoming VAST report that can be expanded upon quickly, especially in relation to maintaining a strong scientific workforce amid competition from other countries that are building their own science powerhouses. “We have to get more young Americans interested in science, and we also still have to provide a warm, welcoming place for the best internationally. We, as a research community, have to take a hard look at how we, ourselves, are building the workforce of the future,” said McNutt.   Watch the recording of the full plenary discussion.