A Message From the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine
Most of the activities that our Academies and National Research Council undertake each year are requested by Congress or the executive branch. Often asked to examine contentious or unresolved policy questions, we bring the tools of science, engineering, and medicine to bear on scores of issues with our expert committees, consensus studies, and peer review.
In 2008 we examined such diverse issues as the restoration and protection of Louisiana’s coast and the impending national crisis of an unprepared health care work force as our population rapidly grows older. Among critical national security questions, we studied plans for a U.S. conventional prompt global strike capability and how to protect the privacy rights of individuals in an age of terrorism. This annual Report to Congress highlights a selection of the nearly 200 studies we completed in 2008.
The National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine also published Science, Evolution, and Creationism in 2008, a book designed to give the public coherent explanations and concrete examples of the science of evolution. More than 250,000 copies of this book and its summary brochure have now been distributed to civic groups, school boards, teachers, and individuals around the country. The National Academy of Engineering assembled a committee of leading technological thinkers to identify grand challenges for engineering that must be faced if the world is to be healthy, secure, and economically vibrant in the 21st century. And in March we held a National Summit on America’s Energy Future, which is soon to be followed by a series of objective studies on the costs and benefits of energy options for the country.
Recent unexpected challenges to our economy and industrial base have again placed a spotlight on the overarching need we identified in our 2005 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm. The United States must take the steps necessary to keep the nation viable and competitive in the globalized economy.
We are pleased that President Barack Obama has declared that “…it is time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and work to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology.” We look forward to contributing to this effort, with the hope that an expanded role for science, engineering, and medicine — in public policy and in particular in education — will help the United States recover and grow stronger as it emerges from these crises.
Ralph J. Cicerone
President
National Academy of Sciences
Chair
National Research Council
Charles M. Vest
President
National Academy of Engineering
Vice Chair
National Research Council
Harvey V. Fineberg
President
Institute of Medicine
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