AAAS Fellow William Colglazier has been appointed to a new United Nations advisory committee, the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM). The 10-member group will support the creation and use of innovative technologies for achieving the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, which seeks to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.
The TFM will be responsible for assisting developing countries build or strengthen their capacity to identify technology needs, to facilitate the preparation and implementation of technology projects and strategies that foster sustainable development, stimulate technology cooperation, and enhance the development and transfer of technologies. Learn more about the role of TFM here.
Colglazier is currently Visiting Scientist at the Center for Science Diplomacy at AAAS. He served as 4th Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State from 2011 to 2014, where he provided scientific and technical expertise and advice in support of the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he served as Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) where he helped to oversee the studies that provide independent, objective advice on public policy issues, and as Executive Director of their Office of International Affairs. From 1983 to 1991, he was physics professor at the University of Tennessee where he directed several research centers: Energy, Environment, and Resources Center; Waste Management Research and Education Institute; and the Water Resources Research Center.
He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1971, and prior to 1983 worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Congratulations to all the new appointees!