The D. Allan Bromley Memorial Lectures
Since 2005 the University of Ottawa has collaborated with George Washington University in holding a series of annual lectures in memory of Dr. D. Allan Bromley. The memorial lectures alternate each year between Ottawa and Washington D.C. and offer an opportunity for graduate students interested in science and technology policy to meet with senior science and policy advisors in the United States and Canada.
The Bromley Lectures are currently led by Dr. Jonathan Linton (ISSP Core Member and Power Corporation Professor in the Management of Technological Enterprises at the Telfer School of Management) and Dr. Nicholas Vonortas (Professor of Economics and International Affairs and Director of the Center for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University) with the support of the ISSP.
About D. Allan Bromley
One of the world’s leading nuclear physicists, D. Allan Bromley was born in Westmeath, Ontario, in 1926 and held degrees from Queen’s University and the University of Rochester. Dr. Bromley sat on President Regan’s White House Science Council and was the first person to hold the Cabinet-level rank of Assistant to the President for Science and Technology from 1989 to 1993, a position he held during the administration of George H.W. Bush. He was a former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific distinction in the United States. D. Allan Bromley died in 2005.
Origin and Future of the Bromley Memorial Event
Allan Bromley was dedicated to science policy in the United States but retained strong ties to Canada, his country of birth. At the time of Dr. Bromley’s death, Dr. John de la Mothe, a Canada Research Chair and Professor at the University of Ottawa, saw the need to have a special science policy link between the respective capitals of Canada and the US. With the support of Dr. Nicholas Vonortas this project was expanded to an exchange between the two capitals. With his insight and initiative, Dr. la Mothe ensured a special tribute to his colleague and mentor, Allan Bromley. John de la Mothe passed away suddenly in 2007.
The Bromley Memorial Lecture is currently being expanded and further internationalized by a team composed of Drs. Jonathan Linton, Nicholas Vonortas and Marc Saner (Director, ISSP). Their hope is that the event will grow into an exchange program encompassing all G20 countries (and beyond) as part of an “Ingenuity Network”.
Upcoming Lecture
The 2013 Bromley lecture will take place right before the American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Meeting on May 1st in Washington D.C.
Past Lectures
Click on the dates below for more information on each year’s lecture.
2012: William B. Bonvillian, Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Washington D.C. Office
2011: John Holdren, Science Advisor to President Obama
2010: Rajagopala Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
2009: John H. Marburger, III, Professor in the departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
2008: Nicholas Vonortas, Director, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
2006: Michael Gibbons, Honorary Professorial Fellow at Science and Technology Policy Research
2005: Arthur I. Miller, Emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University College London
