[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 21 (Tuesday, March 1, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1863-S1864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR D. ALLAN BROMLEY

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to bring my colleagues' 
attention to the death of Professor D. Allan Bromley, a renowned 
nuclear physicist, a great Connecticut citizen and a friend, on 
February 10 at age 78.
  Dr. Bromley had an extraordinary life beginning in Westmeath, 
Ontario, Canada where he was born. He received a B.S. degree with 
highest honors in 1948 in the Faculty of Engineering at Queen's 
University in Ontario where he continued his studies receiving a M.S. 
degree in nuclear physics. In 1952, he earned a Ph.D. degree from the 
University of Rochester and subsequently has been awarded 32 honorary 
doctorates from universities around the world. In 1960, he moved to 
Connecticut where he joined the Yale faculty as an associate professor 
of physics. He founded and directed the A.W. Wright Nuclear Structure 
Laboratory at Yale from 1963 to 1989 where he carried out pioneering 
studies on both the structure and dynamics of atomic nuclei, and he was 
considered the father of modern heavy ion science. From 1972 to 1993, 
he held the Henry Ford II Professorship in Physics at Yale and chaired 
the physics department from 1970 to 1977. He received numerous honors 
and awards, and I would specifically like to recognize that in 1980 he 
received the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor 
awarded by the U.S. Not only was he an outstanding physicist, clearly 
shown by the 500 published papers and the 20 books he authored or 
edited, but he was an outstanding teacher, and his program at Yale 
graduated more doctoral students in experimental nuclear physics than 
any other institution in the world. This is truly an admirable 
accomplishment especially given the overall drop in U.S. students 
pursuing degrees in the physical sciences.
  As the president of the American Physical Society and as president of 
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he was a 
significant, influential leader in the science policy community. He 
served as a member of the White House Science Council during the Reagan 
administration and as a member of the National Science Board in 1988 to 
1989, and he was the first person to hold Cabinet-level rank as 
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, serving the 
first President Bush. In this role from 1989 to 1993, he oversaw a five 
fold increase in staff and budget of the White House Office of Science 
and Technology Policy. At OSTP, he established an Industrial Technology 
Directorate, was the first to name four assistant director Presidential 
appointees, an increase from the one or two appointees made by his 
predecessors, and also within OSTP, was the first to elevate the social 
sciences for full recognition. His strong passion for science was 
clearly evident as he reinvigorated both the Federal Coordinating 
Committees on Science, Engineering and Technology, now named the 
National Science and Technology Council NSTC, and the President's 
Council of Advisory for Science and Technology PCAST. He established 
the ``crosscut'' process that helped our science agencies to more 
effectively interact and develop coherent policy. He was responsible 
for the first formal published statement of U.S. technology policy and 
specifically played a key role in expanding the cooperation and 
partnership between government and private industry in science and 
research and development. His efforts extended beyond the borders of 
the U.S. as he established an annual Carnegie informal meeting of 
science advisors from the G7 and G8 countries where international 
science cooperation was promoted and established. Clearly, he made OSTP 
a powerful voice for strong U.S. science during his tenure.
  Dr. Bromley served the President during a period of intense debate 
over U.S. competitiveness, as we confronted tough competitors in Japan 
and Europe. He helped in the formulation of what became a bipartisan 
competitiveness agenda, building on and implementing many of the 
recommendations of the Young Commission that served President Reagan, 
and the subsequent trade and competitiveness legislation that grew out 
of those proposals. He stood for an activist role for government-
supported science and research and development, working in cooperation 
with the private sector and our universities to build up our innovation 
system. While at OSTP, he established a strong collaboration with OMB 
to strengthen American research and development investment, and science 
education. He well understood that our Nation's growth and well being 
were directly tied to our technological progress, and worked hard from 
the White House to expand that understanding. Dr. Bromley was one of 
our most effective Presidential science advisors.
  Returning to Yale, he worked with President Richard C. Levin on the 
revival of strong science, especially physical science, at Yale. He 
helped the university to fashion a billion-dollar reinvestment in 
science, driven by his understanding that growing innovation capacity 
at Yale will be crucial to the University's and Connecticut's future, 
as well as important to the Nation. I am so glad that he was able to 
see the fruit of President Levin's and his labor start to unfold at 
Yale in the form of new science programs, science buildings, and 
science talent.

  During these years after he returned to Yale, he remained very active 
on national science policy. I had the privilege to work with him, and 
with our current majority leader, Senator Frist, and former Senator 
Phil Gramm, on legislation to double on a step-by-step basis our 
Federal science investment. While we were never able to persuade the 
House to pass our Senate bill, support for science increased 
significantly.
  Additionally, Dr. Bromley was a member of the U.S. National Academy 
of Sciences, the American Academy of

[[Page S1864]]

Arts and Sciences, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the Royal South 
African Academy of Sciences, and the International Higher Education 
Academy of Sciences in Moscow. He was a member of the Governing Board 
of the American Institute of Physics and a Benjamin Franklin Fellow of 
the Royal Society of Arts in London.
  Dr. Bromley was not a shy and retiring figure, he was a forceful, 
``it must be done'' gentleman, generally attired in fine suits and 
elegant bow ties. He also always had an eye on the big picture. I like 
to think of him in his large corner office in the Old Executive Office 
Building while at OSTP, gazing at his stunning view of the White House 
and Blair House. That a scientist wrestled this office out of the hands 
of the Federal bureaucracy speaks about his insistence on the big 
picture. And he definitely had a big picture view of U.S. science. He 
was a team member and team leader in a great generation of U.S. science 
that successfully faced a new kind of economic competition over 
innovation, that brought an information technology revolution to the 
forefront of our society, that pushed for quality in advanced U.S. 
manufacturing processes, that began to work on the application of 
technology to environmental problems, and that made astounding advances 
in fundamental science. He was a direct participant in some of these 
tasks, a supporter in others, but always an insistent, indefatigable 
advocate for science advance.
  In the words of President Levin of Yale, ``in three successive 
careers, he built our physics department, served the nation with 
distinction, and thoroughly revitalized engineering at Yale.'' Dr. 
Bromley may have physically left our world, but his accomplishments and 
influences are here with us. I will always remember my friend. My 
thoughts and prayers are with his family.

                          ____________________