News Release

The Office of Science and Technology Policy Announces New Associate Directors

August 05, 2002

Kathie Olsen, former Chief Scientist at NASA, Confirmed as Associate Director for Science

Richard Russell, former Deputy Chief of Staff for the House Science Committee, Confirmed as Associate Director for Technology

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of Science and Technology Policy announces the confirmation of Dr. Kathie L. Olsen, former chief scientist at NASA, and Mr. Richard M. Russell, former deputy chief of staff for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, as associate directors. Dr. Olsen will be responsible for science issues, and Mr. Russell will be responsible for technology issues.

"I am delighted that the Senate has confirmed President Bush's nominations of these key leadership positions in the Office of Science and Technology Policy," said Dr. John H. Marburger, director, OSTP.

"Kathie Olsen brings important scientific credentials, experience with a wide range of science issues, and service in a series of highly responsible federal agency positions. Richard Russell has essential experience with the interaction between technology and federal processes in both the legislative and executive branches and has forged links between OSTP and other key policy organizations in this Administration. I look forward to their participation in an OSTP that is working with an action-oriented Administration and operating at full throttle in the post 9/11 environment."

Dr. Olsen will manage the science portfolio, which includes Environment, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Social, Behavioral and Education Sciences. Mr. Russell is charged with the technology portfolio, which includes departments in Technology, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Space and Aeronautics. Mr. Russell also is senior director for telecommunications and technology at the National Economic Council.

"Richard will assist with the development and coordination of technology-related economic policy. He is a crucial member of our team," said Larry Lindsey, assistant to the President for economic policy and director, National Economic Council.

OSTP was established by Congress in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the impacts of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead an interagency effort to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end. Under Dr. Marburger's leadership, the office has been organized in response to the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of today's science and technology challenges. The two associate directors lead a set of departments that work in teams on science and technology issues.

Biographical information is attached.

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Biographical Information on Dr. Kathie L. Olsen

Prior to joining OSTP, Dr. Olsen was chief scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In this position, she served at the administrator's senior scientific advisor and principal interface with the national and international scientific community.

Before joining NASA in May 1999, Dr. Olsen served as the senior staff associate for the Science and Technology Centers in the National Science Foundation's Office of Integrative Activities. From February 1996 until November 1997, she was a Brookings Institute Legislative Fellow and then a NSF detailee in the Office of Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). Preceding her work on Capitol Hill, she served for two years as the acting deputy director for the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience at NSF where she has worked and held numerous other science-related positions dating back to 1984.

Dr. Olsen received her bachelor's degree in science with honors from Chatham College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, majoring in both biology and psychology and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her doctorate from the Department of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine. After spending one-year as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Children's Hospital of Harvard Medical School, Boston, Dr. Olsen moved to the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she was a research scientist at Long Island Research Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Medical School until 1988.

Biographical Information on Mr. Richard M. Russell

Richard Russell has served as associate director for technology designate at OSTP since November 2001. Between March and November of last year, he served as chief of staff. Prior to joining OSTP he worked on the Presidential Transition Teams for the Department of Commerce, National Science Foundation and OSTP.

From 1995-2001, Mr. Russell worked for the House of Representatives Committee on Science. He began his tenure on the Committee as a professional staff member for the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. He was promoted to staff director for the Subcommittee on Technology and finally named deputy chief of staff for the full Science Committee.

Prior to joining the Science Committee, Mr. Russell was a professional staff member of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Subcommittee on Oceanography, which has jurisdiction over ocean and environmental research and management. He also directed the Washington office of the Association of California Water Agencies.

Mr. Russell began his career in Washington, D.C. as a research fellow for the Conservation Foundation. He also worked for Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) and Senator John Seymour (R-CA). In 1988 he earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Yale University.