President George W. Bush has nominated Louis J. Lanzerotti, PhD, distinguished professor of physics at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), to serve on the National Science Board (NSB), the 24-member governing body of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Eight prominent nominees were named on the basis of their distinguished service in science and engineering research. They will fill six-year-terms. The Senate will confirm the nominations.
Lanzerotti, a consulting physicist to Bell Laboratories-Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics, is the chair of the 20-person, blue-ribbon panel to study whether to prolong the mission of the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA has twice recognized Lanzerotti’s contributions to science with the agency’s Distinguished Scientific Achievement Medal. He has also received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and the William Nordberg Medal for space science from the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).
Lanzerotti is a member of the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, in Newark and at Big Bear Solar Observatory, Big Bear Lake, Calif. California Institute of Technology transferred management of the well-known solar observatory in 1997 to NJIT.
Lanzerotti is editor of the new journal Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and Applications, published by the American Geophysical Union. The journal has been the first to focus on the emerging field of space weather and its impact on technical systems, including telecommunications, electric power and navigation.
Lanzerotti’s work at NJIT continues to investigate many unanswered questions about the sun and its effects on the earth’s space environment. Over a career spanning four decades, he has contributed to research that includes studies of space plasmas and geophysics, and engineering problems related to the impact of space processes on terrestrial technologies, and those in space.
Lanzerotti holds a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois and masters and doctoral degrees in physics from Harvard University. He has authored more than 500-refereed publications and co-authored or co-edited three books.
The Board oversees NSF as it carries out its responsibilities to maintain the health of the Nation’s science and engineering enterprise by funding research in basic sciences and engineering. It establishes NSF policies, identifies issues that are critical to NSF’s future, approves NSF’s strategic budget directions, approves annual budget submissions to the Office of Management and Budget, and approves new programs and major awards. In its role as policy advisor to the President and the Congress, the Board initiates and conducts studies on a broad range of policy topics related to science and engineering research and education.
