• Partnerships between Science and Government

  Clearly, there are new perceptions and new realities in Washington. The honeymoon between Science and Congress is not what it once was. In increasing public appreciation of science, we must perhaps begin with Congress. AAAS should work to find venues for fostering bipartisan partnerships between government, academia, and industry in advancing the common interests of these groups in achieving the national and global agenda for improving the human condition. Congress must be convinced that this is a win-win situation. The mechanisms are not clear to me, but I have some thoughts... such as a high-level ongoing roundtable involving leaders of science, congress and maybe the Executive. I have not here singled out higher education as a separate item, but it must be made part of the agenda.

• Partnerships between Science and Industry

  This is probably an easier topic than the first item. There clearly already exist mutually beneficial partnerships in areas where industry sees the payback most obviously. We need to find ways to extend this, especially to extend to ways to preserve the environment for a sustainable future. If we can agree on environmental protection measures that are regarded as attractive both to the business and environmental communities, Congressional support should be a given. Institutions such as the Heinz Center have taken this on as a mandate.

• Funding for Science

  Flows from the first bullet above

• Public support for and understanding of science

  Is an extension of the first bullet

• Opportunities for young scientists

  I think Millie has addressed this well in her comments. It clearly is one of the most important items on our agenda. We must keep things flowing through the pipeline.

• Challenges in Interdisciplinary Science

  It is clear, increasingly, that the problems we need to address will require the talents of diverse assemblages of scientists and others. The reward system in universities dictates against such efforts, at least to some extent. Furthermore, it is still essential to train people to be experts in disciplines, rather than superficial generalists. There are a suite of issues here that AAAS is uniquely equipped to address.

• International cooperation in science

  Again, high on the agenda, and well treated by Millie

• AAAS and the Social Sciences

  The resolution of today's critical problems: global change, biodiversity, sustainability, the decay of cities, intergenerational and intragenerational equity, population growth, etc... all will require substantial input from economists, social scientists, ethicists, and others. AAAS has done a poor job connecting with these scientists and others, who do not regard it as their home. We need to find ways to involve them more deeply.

• Emerging Diseases and Antibiotic Resistance

  These represent two related topics that are going to challenge us as never before in the next twenty years. We need to get out in front of these issues. There are great scientific challenges, and a starting point may simply be in raising awareness of them. Science can play an important role.

• Complex Adaptive Systems

  This represents not only an exciting intellectual area that will involve scientists of broad stripe, mathematicians, and others; it also represents an area both of overriding social importance, as well as a unifying theme for the activities of AAAS. Ecologies, economies, societies, languages, cities, immune systems, developing organisms, cultures all represent complex adaptive systems with common features. A special issue of Science would be a great idea on this.

• Biodiversity Loss, Global Change and Sustainability

  These represent the great challenges for humans in the next century. If we do not address these and the basic driver -- population growth -- then all is lost.

AAAS at the Millenium Board Position Paper

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Dr. C. Eugene Allen, Dr. Patricia A. Anderson, Dr. Richard Atkinson, Dr. Mary Ellen Avery, Dr. Dorothy F. Bainton, Dr. Allen J. Bard, Dr. Joost Businger, Dr. Barry Commoner, Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, Dr. Joseph G. Gavin, Dr. Carroll Ann Hodges, Dr. Gerald Holton, Dr. Leon Lederman, Dr. William A. Lester, Jr., Dr. Simon Levin, Dr. Marcia C. Linn, Dr. Mike McCormack, Dr. Gerard Piel, Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg