UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 2
September 12, 1996
Talk to focus on technology's impact on economy

     Mary Good, under secretary for technology in the U.S.
Department of Commerce, will speak on "Technology: Fueling the
21st-Century American Economy" at the University on Friday, Sept.
27.
     The free public lecture will begin at 3 p.m. in Pearson
Hall. Refreshments will be served before the lecture at 2:30 p.m.
     Good will discuss how the role of technology in the U.S.
economy is growing. More than ever, economic growth,
competitiveness and job creation flow from investments in basic
and applied research and technology development, she says. While
the U.S. science base remains globally unparalleled, at the other
end of the spectrum, U.S. industry is emphasizing investments in
product development and process improvement.
     There is growing concern about adequate funding for pre-
competitive development of emerging technologies that will
underpin new industries and new products and services and for
enabling technologies, such as chemical catalysis and
biocatalysis that support advances across a wide range of
industries, Good says. The Clinton administration has sought to
increase investments in emerging and enabling technologies
through industry-government technology partnerships.
     In 1997, Good will become the first woman to receive the
Priestly Medal, the American Chemical Society's most prestigious
and oldest award given in recognition of distinguished service to
chemistry.
     She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and her
master's and doctoral degrees in inorganic chemistry, all from
the University of Arkansas. She went on to enjoy a prestigious
career in the academic and business community.
     She is a former professor of chemistry at the University of
New Orleans and a former professor of materials science at
Louisiana State University, where she achieved that university's
highest rank, Boyd Professor.
      After 25 years of teaching and research, she moved to
industry where she has served in many capacities, including as
president of the Engineered Materials Research Center at Allied
Signal, president of the Signal Research Center and director of
the UOP Research Center. She was then appointed senior vice
president of technology at Allied Signal.
     Good was appointed to the National Science Board by then
President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and again by then President
Ronald Reagan in 1986. She served as board chair from 1988 until
1991, when she received an appointment from then President George
Bush to become a member of the President's Council of Advisers on
Science and Technology. She was nominated by President Bill
Clinton to her current post in the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Technology Administration, which is composed of the National
Institute of Standards and the Office of Technology Policy.
     The Technology Administration is the focal point in the
federal government for working in partnership with industry to
improve productivity, technology and innovation to compete more
effectively in global markets. Good chairs the National Science
and Technology Council's Civilian Industrial Technology Committee
and coordinates the Clinton Administration's Partnership for a
New Generation Vehicle (clean car) effort.
     The talk, sponsored by the University's Department of
Chemical Engineering, is part of the Jack A. Gerster Memorial
Lecture Series, created to honor the work of the late UD
professor of chemical engineering. Dr. Gerster served as
chairperson of the chemical engineering department from 1966 to
1970 and made extensive contributions to both the University and
his profession during that time. His primary research interests
were in the areas of distillation, separations processes and
thermodynamics. The lecture series is presented annually to
remember his talents in teaching, research and administration, as
well as his warm, friendly personality.
     For more information, contact the Department of Chemical
Engineering at 831-2543.