President Jahanian to Provide Congressional Testimony About Future of American Innovation
By Jason Maderer
Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian will testify before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee at 10 a.m. ET, Thursday, April 15, during a virtual hearing titled “Reimagining Our Innovation Future.”
The hearing will highlight the committee’s bipartisan National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Future Act. The proposed legislation seeks to advance U.S. competitiveness by dramatically expanding federal support for basic research and accelerating technology transfer on a scale not seen since the mid 20th century.
President Jahanian’s remarks will focus on the nation’s need to increase research funding to solve societal challenges and expand the national research infrastructure. He will talk about investing in talent, including doubling the number of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in science and engineering and recruiting the world’s brightest minds. President Jahanian will also discuss the need to expand the geography of U.S. innovation by leveraging the role of universities and national labs.
President Jahanian will be joined on the witness panel by Frances Arnold, a Caltech professor and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Norm Augustine, former Lockheed Martin CEO, and Ernest Moniz, former Energy Secretary and president and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative.
The event is one of several in Washington, D.C., this week focused on the future of the nation’s research enterprise. On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing to review the Endless Frontier Act, which is expected to be reintroduced in the coming weeks.
These bills — the Endless Frontier Act and NSF for the Future — are the latest in a series of major research bills that Congress has been considering over the last two years. Carnegie Mellon has been engaged in discussions on many of these measures.