WSU President Smith Meets Sept. 22 at White House with Clinton Advisers

WASHINGTON — Samuel H. Smith, Washington State University president, is part of a
12-member delegation meeting tomorrow (Sept. 22) with science advisers at the White House to
stress the importance of federal support for university-based research.
The private hour-long morning meeting is with John Podesta, President Clinton’s chief of
staff, and other presidential advisers, including Neal Lane, assistant to the president and Office
of Science and Technology policy director.
“We are working directly with presidential advisers, advocating for increased support for
research and in particular for the sciences,” Smith said.
WSU’s president said he was chosen by coalition members to discuss the importance of
interdisciplinary research. “This is a rapidly growing area, but it is often not recognized by
federal granting agencies. In the case of WSU, it is to our advantage as a research university to
assemble diverse teams of researchers to tackle the complex problems in today’s science,” he
said.
The visit is part of a national lobbying effort, “Science: Invest in the Future,” coordinated by
The Science Coalition, an alliance of 416 organizations, individuals and institutions, including
WSU.
Delegation members include the presidents or chancellors of Harvard, Georgia Tech, Virginia
Tech, Wisconsin, Tufts, Tennessee, Yale and State University of New York at Stony Brook.
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