2025 Bromley Memorial Lecture: Dr. Rob Atkinson

We were delighted to host the 2025 Bromley Memorial Lecture at The George Washington University, in celebration of 20 years of this lecture series. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

With the election of Donald Trump as President, the U.S. science community faces significant challenges, especially reduced funding. As such, it can continue doubling down on the Vannevar Bush approach to science policy as it has for 75 years and likely face continued budget cuts. Or it can chart a new course for science policy explicitly focused on aligning U.S. science policy with key national goals, especially the techno-economic competition with China. Atkinson discussed why the prevailing “Bush” model is no longer a valid guide to policy and will lay out a new framework to guide science and engineering policy.

The event was co-organized by the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy and the Institute for Science, Society & Policy at the University of Ottawa. We thank those who were able to join us in person, and those who took the time to follow virtually. If you were unable to attend, please check out the full recording above.