James Schauer, PhD, PE, MBA, director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and Peterson-Radar-Hawnn Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW-Madison, has been named a 2018 U.S. Science Envoy by the U.S. Department of State.
U.S. Science Envoys engage internationally at the citizen and government levels to enhance relationships between other nations and the United States, develop partnerships, and improve collaboration. Science Envoys leverage their international leadership, influence, and expertise in priority countries to advance solutions to shared science and technology challenges. Science Envoys travel as private citizens and help inform the Department of State, a variety of U.S. government agencies, and the scientific community about opportunities for science and technology cooperation.
As a Science Envoy for Air Quality, Schauer will highlight American scientific strategies and technologies for mitigating poor air quality, with a focus on South Asia.
Since 2010, there have been 18 U.S. Science Envoys.
In addition to Schauer, the 2018 Science Envoys are:
- Science Envoy for Space – Charles Frank Bolden Jr., (Maj. Gen. USMC-Ret.), recently retired from service as the twelfth Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Science Envoy for Innovation – Robert S. Langer, SciD, FREng, one of 13 Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Science Envoy for Health Security – Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, Regents Professor, the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
- Science Envoy for Health Security – Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Professor of Bioengineering, Director of the Rice 360° Institute for Global Health and Founder of the Beyond Traditional Borders Undergraduate Global Health Program at Rice University
U.S. Department of State Media Note – https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/06/283073.htm