Chancellor Richard H. Herman was selected as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology last month.

He will be attending his first council meeting along with 36 other members from across the nation in Washington on March 28. However, the meeting will not take place in the White House.

Herman’s credentials include serving as the Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park, before being coming to the University. From 1986 to 1990, he was chair of the Department of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University, according to the council’s Web site.

President George W. Bush established the council in 2001, allowing the president to appoint members from both the private sector and academic community. The council will give advice on technology, scientific research priorities, and math and science education, according to the council’s Web site.

“I was very pleased personally, and certainly on the behalf of the institution, to be able to serve the nation in this way,” Herman said. “I expect to benefit from the wisdom of my colleagues, some of whom are from the industry in the private sector and some of whom are from universities.”

He said the areas in which the council is concerned include development in the physical sciences, information technology, nanotechnology and energy, all of which are areas of expertise at the University.

Celia Merzbacher, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said the council examines research and reports to the president.

“(Council members are) asked by the president through administration officials to provide advice and input on various topics,” Merzbacher said. “Through a very open process, they do fact finding and generally come to a consensus on the findings and recommendations and send up a report to the president.”

Through executive order signed last September, the council is responsible for reviewing programs periodically.

Merzbacher said the council is working on two projects, one on energy technologies and the opportunity to make a difference in the nation’s energy technologies. The second area reviews the federal portfolio of Rapid Application Development Data Communications in the area of networking and informational technology where about $3 billion is invested annually.

“(The council), including new members like Herman, are going to be reviewing the programs over the coming year and making an assessment and perhaps recommendations on how it can be improved,” Merzbacher said.

Lesley Millar, director of the Office of Technology Management at the University, said the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is an effective tool to help further examine the use of science and technology, especially in energy conservation.

“With the ongoing energy crisis for the moment, (we’re) looking for an alternative mean in energy, be it through ethanol or any other use of corn substitute – anything that will broaden the thinking, anything that will look for alternatives and challenge the norm,” Millar said.