Obama Administration Seeks to Fill Multiple Science Leadership Posts with Super-Star Female Nominees

"The extraordinary dedication these individuals bring to their new

roles will greatly serve the American people.  I am grateful they

have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to

working with them in the months and years to come."

- President Barack Obama, White House Press Release (July 31, 2013)

This summer, the turnover of key scientific leadership roles in several federal agencies and Administration offices are coming fast and furious.  One of the vacancies, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has already been filled by the former assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy.  Nominations for three other posts are currently pending Senate approval.  Yale microbiologist Jo Handelsman has been nominated for the Associate Director position in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).  Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, has been nominated to fill the lead role at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  To replace Subra Suresh, the current National Science Foundation (NSF) leader, Pres. Obama has nominated France Córdova, an astrophysicist and President Emeritus of Purdue University.  All of the nominees are exceptionally impressive and warrant a brief introduction.


Gina McCarthy - EPA Administrator (current)

Gina McCarthy (photo)

After over 4 months of wrangling (nomination submitted by Pres. Obama on Monday, March 4), the Senate voted on Thursday, July 18 to confirm Gina McCarthy to the post of EPA Administrator in a 59 to 40 vote.  All Senate Democrats, with the exception of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), voted to confirm McCarthy.  Six Republicans voted to confirm the nomination as well; Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN), Sen. Bob Corker (TN), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (NH), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sen. Jeff Flake (AZ), and Sen. John McCain (AZ).  Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) did not vote.  A lengthy filibuster that blocked an up-or-down vote was broken in a 69-31 vote only after the Senate Democratic leadership threatened rule changes that would have diminished the rights of the minority to filibuster executive branch nominees.

McCarthy faced fierce opposition that stemmed from Republican fears that she would be a staunch and forceful advocate for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.  Democrats countered that she had successfully worked with conservative leaders in the past, a prime example being her service as the Undersecretary of Policy in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs under Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.  Environmental advocacy groups quickly applauded her confirmation (see NRDC, Union of Concerned Scientists for examples).

Moving forward, McCarthy will make climate change a top priority of the EPA.  In a speech at Harvard Law School on Tuesday, July 30, she emphasized the environmental and economic impacts of global climate change.


Jo Handelsman - Associate Director OSTP (nominee)

Dr. Handelsman and Pres. Obama (photo)

On Wednesday, July 31, the White House put forward its nomination of Prof. Jo Handelsman, a Yale microbiologist, to step in as Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, replacing physicist and Nobel recipient Carl Weiman.  Prof. Handelsman has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor since 2002.  Once confirmed (and it is assumed she will be confirmed), she would like to follow in the footsteps of Weiman as a leader and advocate for STEM education.  She was the recipient of the 2013 Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award from the American Society of Microbiology.  She has also published multiple books on teaching and mentoring.  In 2011, Prof. Handelsman was the recipient of one of only 11 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in recognition of her leadership and accomplishments in mentoring science students.

Prof. Handelsman's research at Yale focuses on understanding microbial communities, with an emphasis on the genetic factors that contribute to community stability and dynamics.  She is particularly interested in the gut microbiota of insects and the microbial community structures that exist in soil environments.  Readers of this blog know that these are big, complicated, and important research areas with implications for human heath, agriculture, and environmental stability and well-being!  Prof. Handelsman and colleagues have recently published a review article that lays out the current state of knowledge on microbial community stability.


Kathryn Sullivan - Head of NOAA (nominee)

Kathryn Sullivan (photo)

On Thursday, August 1, Pres. Obama nominated Dr. Kathryn Sullivan to replace Jane Lubchenco as the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (i.e. head of NOAA).  Sullivan has had a storied career thus far, with the obvious highlight of being the first American woman to walk in space on October 5, 1984.  Not to be outdone, she was a member of the shuttle crew that took off on April 24, 1990, that deployed the Hubble space telescope.  Dr. Sullivan has also served important leadership roles on Earth.  She has served as the assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce (which oversees NOAA) since 2011 and was the chief scientist at NOAA from 1993 to 1996.  Dr. Sullivan has also been engaged in academic research and has served administrative and leadership roles at various STEM related associations (see John Glenn School of Public Affairs, Center of Science and Industry).

NOAA is a fairly hefty federal entity with a multi-billion dollar annual budget (NOAA FY2014 budget request was $5.4 billion).  In tough fiscal times, Dr. Sullivan will have her hands full.  She will have to continue to grapple with the effects of sequestration while simultaneously navigating the political currents attempting to direct NOAA's emphasis toward weather forecasting over climate change research. 


France Córdova - National Science Foundation Director (nominee)

France Córdova (photo)

On the same day that Pres. Obama nominated Jo Handelsman for the OSTP post, the White House also requested that Dr. France Córdova follow Subra Suresh as the Director of the NSF.  Córdova has an exceptionally impressive resume and is expected to be approved for the post without much of a fuss.  She is trained as an astrophysicist and has served as president of two major research universities; the University of California Riverside and Purdue University, where she served as the first female president.  From 1993 to 1996, Córdova worked as the first female chief scientist at NASA.  She has conducted research at Los Alamos National Laboratory, served as head of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Department at Penn State, was chair of the Board of Reagents at the Smithsonian, and has been a member of the National Science Board.  (For more details, see an interview conducted by the AAAS or a brief digest by Scientific American).

France Córdova's long, successful history of research excellence clearly shows that she's got the scientific chops to handle the NSF directorship, hands down.  What sets her apart from many past directors is her extensive administrative experience and her knowledge and familiarity with Washington.  The NSF, like other federal agencies, is feeling the pinch of the sequester.  Add to that a FY2014 budget request of $7.6 billion with no budget resolution from Congress leading into the August recess, talk of government shutdowns, and scientists everywhere grappling for research funding, and it is clear that Dr. Córdova will have her work as a scientist and administrator cut out for her.  She remarked to the AAAS that, "every time I’ve had a leadership position there have been big budget concerns" but that she's, "not worried about navigating budget constraints. It’s part of every job." 

As readers of this blog know, the NSF has been forced to play politics this year.  Republicans on the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), have been critical of the NSF grant review process (see my May 28 post).  This behavior by cost-cutting politicians is in many ways not shocking (but yes, still disappointing), given the difficult fiscal times.  As the funding battles in Congress are not likely to go away any time soon (the 2014 mid-terms are coming up!), we can be sure that France Córdova will end up carrying the fight for peer review forward just as her predecessors have done. 


As of the publication of this post, only Gina McCarthy has been approved by the Senate, with the other three nominees awaiting a vote.  As Congress is out of town for a while, political and scientific followers will have to keep their eyes and ears peeled when Congress reconvenes for the fall session.  I'll follow up here as things progress.  Let's hope Prof. Handelsman, Dr. Sullivan, and Dr. Córdova won't have to wait as long as Director McCarthy did for the Senate to get around to an up-or-down vote.

- @EJDimise