[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 47 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS F. WEAVER

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Dr. Thomas F. 
Weaver, a man who devoted his life to ideas and to education. Tom died 
earlier this month at home in Rhode Island and his sudden passing came 
as a shock to all who knew him.
  Although he was in his midsixties, Tom was an active athlete and an 
inspired educator. As chairman of the department of environmental and 
natural resource economics at the University of Rhode Island [URI], his 
aggressive intellect, his warm spirit, and his enthusiasm all reflected 
the energy of a much younger man.
  Tom worked closely with my staff for more than a decade in planning 
the $24 million construction of buildings that will comprise URI's 
Coastal Institute on Narragansett Bay. Indeed, the building to be 
erected on the university's main campus will include a policy 
simulation laboratory that would have been his pride and joy.
  Although the Coastal Institute will be the result of work by many 
talented and committed individuals, Tom stood out as the workhorse who 
followed every development. He helped nudge the process along to assure 
that USDA matching construction funds were secured. My staff and I were 
only too glad to help.
  The University of Rhode Island is now perfectly positioned, as both a 
land grant and a sea grant college, to develop the Coastal Institute. 
It is my hope, and a hope I know Tom shared, that these closely related 
natural resources disciplines will meet and grow at the Coastal 
Institute.
  The University of Rhode Island's Coastal Institute went though the 
most rigorous USDA feasibility review, including a peer review. Its 
funding has been approved step by step in a painfully rigorous 
appropriations process that began in the 1980's.
  Tom was there every step of the way, providing information, drafting 
testimony, and helping me to pave the way for approval.
  As I advised Congress, using information that Tom polished with my 
staff, the primary mission of the Coastal Institute will be to carry 
out research and analyze policies to better enable society to manage 
its coastal resources wisely.
  In Tom's words:

       The strength of the Coastal Institute will be 
     multidisciplinary teams addressing complex problems in a 
     holistic manner. The Institute will take advantage of the 
     information superhighway and long distance interactive 
     communication.

  The Rhode Island-funded half of the Coastal Institute facilities are 
nearing completion of URI's Narragansett Bay campus. The federally 
funded half are in the bid preparation stages for buildings there and 
on URI's Kingston campus.
  I am deeply saddened that Tom did not live to see the completion of 
the Coastal Institute. It will be an institution that is unique in the 
world and will include, housed in the building on the Kingston campus, 
a policy simulation laboratory that also will be unique.
  The private sector has been involved almost from the start, thanks to 
Tom, in the concept and design of the policy simulation laboratory. 
When the lab is up and running, the private sector is expected to be an 
active participant in its programs.
  The policy simulation laboratory will represent, more than anything 
else at the Coastal Institute, the vision of Tom Weaver. He conceived 
it, helped design it, and looked forward to running it as a unique 
resource for educators, businessmen, and government officials.
  The Coastal Institute represents an extraordinary mix of scientists 
and researchers from disparate academic disciplines. As I mentioned, it 
combines two of the greatest strengths of the university--which has an 
international reputation for both land grant and sea grant programs.
  Anyone who knows of academic politics at the university level can 
imagine how difficult it must have been to forge that alliance. With 
help from countless friends and diplomatic guidance from colleagues, 
Tom's determination was one of the forces that made it happen.
  I have focused on Tom's work on the Coastal Institute, simply because 
I shared his enthusiasm for the academic adventure, the scientific 
possibilities, and the very real benefits that it will provide. But he 
was a far more complex man.
  My staff and I noticed that Tom, who always kept his eye on the goal, 
could be stunned by a well-deserved compliment. He was so busy driving 
toward his objective and encouraging others, that he never seemed to 
notice the excellence of his own hard work and leadership.
  I know he will be missed by all who knew him or were touched by his 
teaching, but I hope everyone who uses the policy simulation laboratory 
will remember him. They will be there working side by side with his 
determined spirit.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk 
proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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