Dr. John (“Jack”) Gibbons, distinguished physicist and President Bill Clinton’s first science advisor, died on July 17 at the age of 86. I was privileged to serve with him in Washington.
Jack Gibbons was a graduate of Randolph-Macon College and earned his Ph.D. in physics from Duke University, before starting his research career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served as leader of the nuclear geophysics/astrophysics division and studied the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements inside stars. He became interested in energy policy issues and in 1973, when the nation was experiencing its first major energy crisis, was appointed as the first director of the federal Office of Energy Conservation. Following this appointment, he joined the University of Tennessee as professor of physics and the university’s director of the Energy, Environment and Resources Center.
In 1979, Gibbons was appointed director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), a bipartisan, bicameral federal agency chartered to serve congressional committees as their principal source of independent, expert and comprehensive analyses of issues involving the impacts of science and technology on society. He served as OTA director from 1979 to 1993, when he was tapped by the newly elected President Clinton to be his White House science advisor, a position he held until 1998.
As science advisor to the president, he held two titles: Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (one of the president’s most senior confidential advisors) and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), a Senate-confirmed appointment. In the latter role, he was responsible for coordinating science and technology policy, multi-agency science and technology initiatives, and defending science budgets across the federal government. He co-chaired the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, a body of non-government representatives (except for the co-chairman) charged to give the president independent advice on matters of science and technology. He was also a member of the White House advisory bodies: the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, National Security Council, and National Science and Technology Council (a Cabinet-level body chaired by the president). In addition, he represented the U.S. government on major commissions, e.g., the U.S.-China Joint Commission, the U.S-Japan Joint High Level Committee, the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation, the U.S.-South Africa Bi-national Commission, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, and others.
He was a strong advocate for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in basic science and nuclear arms control, including the cessation of nuclear testing. He was a key player in establishing presidential initiatives including the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), the National Bioethics Advisory Commission and the International Space Station. He was a vigorous supporter of sustainable research funding for the National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, Department of Energy, NASA, Department of Defense agencies and others. As the highest-ranking White House official on matters of science and technology, he had the ear of President Clinton and Vice President Gore, whom he had known from his days in Tennessee. He was effective in the implementation of the administration’s science and technology policies across the federal government and influential in the formation of those policies. Of course, the most important things a science advisor does usually are not in the public eye. But I’m confident that he handled them well.
Jack Gibbons received many honors, including six honorary degrees and numerous awards from the French, English and German governments, NASA, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the American Physical Society’s Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest. Yet he remained a gentle, humble and most generous man.
I want to add a personal note about Jack Gibbons, since I got to know him well during the years (1993-98) I was privileged to serve in the Clinton administration as director of the National Science Foundation and Jack was in the White House.
The NSF director officially reports to the president. But in reality, my principal contact in the White House was Jack Gibbons. Jack was always available to hear my concerns (e.g., some action of the Office of Management and Budget that I didn’t agree with) and my arguments, explain what was going on in the White House and tell me whether or not he agreed with me. If he felt the issue was sufficiently important, he would forward my concerns to Clinton or Gore, often without my knowing it. However, Jack’s influence on the outcome was often apparent.
Jack probably was “The nicest guy in Washington,” as Bill Broad wrote in his Aug. 3, 2015, New York Times article, referring to an earlier Scientific American profile on Jack. He was certainly one of the nicest people I knew in Washington. His warmth and good humor stood out in the White House, a place where time pressure and egos can get in the way. Jack never seemed to get ruffled or care much about who got credit for a positive outcome or blamed for a bad one. He was intensely loyal to the president and often moved quietly to resolve issues or push an important idea, and he used his humor to calm any heated exchanges along the way. When asked about any significant achievement, Jack was always quick to credit the other members of the team, including the associate directors and staff at OSTP as well as the president’s appointees at the various agencies. I was so fortunate to inherit many of his excellent OSTP folks when I moved over to the White House in 1998 as President Clinton’s second science advisor.
After leaving government in 1998, Jack continued to be active, serving on boards and advisory committees, giving lectures and helping anyone who needed it. I often give talks about the importance of scientists getting more involved with the public and public policy in a role many of us call the “civic scientist.” Jack Gibbons was a model civic scientist and someone I will always remember with great respect, admiration and gratitude.
Neal Lane is a senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute. He is also the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. He was the science advisor to President Bill Clinton and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1998 to 2001. He served as director of the National Science Foundation and member (ex officio) of the National Science Board from October 1993 to August 1998. Before his post with NSF, Lane was provost and professor of physics at Rice, a position he had held since 1986.