John H. Marburger III, science adviser to President George W. Bush and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will deliver the 2005 commencement address at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science on Saturday, June 18. Exercises will be held at 12:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus.
The School expects to award approximately 640 undergraduate degrees and nearly 500 graduate degrees this year. An estimated 5,500 guests are expected to attend the School’s commencement-related activities.
“John Marburger is an extraordinary individual. I am delighted that he will be here to share his many years of experience as a public-minded scientist with our students on this very important day,” said Dean Vijay K. Dhir.
Marburger has served local, state and federal governments in a variety of capacities. Before his appointment in the Executive Office of the President, he served as Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1998, and as the third President of the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1980-1994). He came to Long Island in 1980 from the University of Southern California where he served as a professor of physics and electrical engineering and as physics department chairman and Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, in the 1970s.
Throughout his career, Marburger has contributed significantly to the field of nonlinear optics, spurred by the invention of the laser in 1960. He developed theory for various laser phenomena and was a co-founder of USC’s Center for Laser Studies. His teaching activities included “Frontiers of Electronics,” a series of educational programs on CBS television.
Marburger’s presidency at Stony Brook coincided with the opening and growth of University Hospital and the development of the biological sciences as a major strength of the university. Under his oversight, federally sponsored scientific research at Stony Brook grew to exceed that of any other public university in the northeastern United States. During his presidency, Marburger served on numerous boards and committees, including chairmanship of the governor’s commission on the Shoreham Nuclear Power facility, and chairmanship of the 80 campus “Universities Research Association,” which operates Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago.
The President’s Science Advisor holds a B.A. in physics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University.