Erich Bloch (1925–2016)
Earlier this month, we lost a great American leader in science and technology, Erich Bloch, who died on November 25 at the age of 91. Bloch was one of those unique individuals whose contributions included both engineering and technological innovation in a career spanning over 30 years (1952-84) with IBM, followed by a period of federal service in the Reagan administration as director of the National Science Foundation (1984-90). The NSF appointment was unusual. Most NSF directors have held Ph.D.s; Bloch earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Buffalo. At IBM he was a key figure in developing the company’s first supercomputer — the STRETCH 7030, the predecessor of the popular IBM 360 computer, for which he shared the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1985. Bloch continued to influence policy as one of the original founders of the Washington Advisory Group, an organization focused on advising research institutions and universities.
I first met Erich Bloch when he was NSF director and I was a member of the NSF advisory committee for the division of physics; on a few occasions I joined a few members of the committee in meetings with him to make our case for more support for physics. I have vivid recollections of these meetings. Erich would ask such questions as: “Please, can you explain why physics is more important than the other research that NSF supports?” Of course, we did our best, but in the end it likely ended up sounding like special pleading. I can recall some of my colleagues leaving the meeting in a state of high agitation. I don’t think physics fared particularly badly during his tenure as director, but he had in mind some special priorities for the agency. He established the Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) to stimulate interdisciplinary research and stronger university-industry partnerships. Using a similar model, he also established the Science and Technology Centers (STCs), broadening the scope of efforts to include science as well as engineering. Both the ERC and STC programs have been successful and are active today.
In addition to these NSF centers programs, Erich had other priorities. He felt that NSF should be a major player in advancing high-performance computing, a field he knew well, and electronic communication by ensuring that NSF researchers who needed such a capability would have access to the most powerful computers available and a network to communicate with them. He established a new “Computer and Information Science and Engineering” directorate at NSF. I was invited to chair an advisory committee he formed to advise the agency on its first supercomputing program, which funded several supercomputer centers around the country and a network NSFNET, based on the Defense Department’s ARPANET protocol. NSFNET is rightly recognized as the precursor of today’s Internet. So I had a chance to witness, firsthand, the vision and foresight of this amazing man. Many years later, when I was privileged to serve as NSF director under President Bill Clinton, I learned to appreciate even more the lasting impact Erich had on the agency and how his initiatives had made NSF steadily stronger and more relevant—or, more accurately, its relevance better demonstrated—in meeting the needs of society. In 1993, the IEEE Computer Society awarded him the Computer Pioneer Award for high-speed computing. And in 2002, the National Science Board honored him with the Vannevar Bush Award.
I was quoted in the December 1 tribute Jeff Mervis wrote for “Science” magazine with the observation: “Not everyone agreed with Erich on everything he did as NSF director. But in my view, he transformed NSF and, to a large extent, American science, mathematics and engineering research and education, in ways that have proved to be lasting and vital to the advancement of science and technology in this country.”
The current NSF director, France Cordova, in a remembrance of Erich said it best: “Erich Bloch understood the synergy between government, industry and academia and he was great at communicating his vision for NSF and establishing the centers-based research platform for the nation … Bloch’s contributions will live on through the work and mission of the foundation. The heartfelt messages NSF is receiving from around the country are a testament to his enduring legacy.”
Neal Lane is a senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute. He is also a Professor of Physics and Astronomy Emeritus 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.