Professor Charles Weiss

Q:What led you into science and your chosen area of research?

A:My father was a scientist and I practically grew up in his laboratory. So in a sense I never considered any other career. While studying for my PhD in biochemistry and chemical physics at Harvard, I sat in on Don Price's pioneering seminar on science policy, kindling a life-long interest in the subject. After finishing my degree and a stint in the Army, I toured ten countries in Africa visiting scientists and laboratories, and wrote a series of articles for scientists and Africa specialists that attracted attention in the US Agency for International Development. A few years later, at a Pugwash conference, I discovered that the World Bank under Robert McNamara was embarking on uncharted waters, trying to use development assistance to attack poverty in developing countries, and that they did not have a science adviser. I convinced them to try me out for a year, and ended up staying for 15. When I left the Bank, I branched out into environmental policy and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Pensylvania, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins, gradually broadening my interests to include all aspects of science, technology and international relations. Then I was appointed Distinguished Professor at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and asked to take over an undergraduate program in this area.

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