Volume 19: No. 6, June 2005

President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Dr. Kathie Olsen
By Sara Robinson

President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Dr. Kathie Olsen, current Associate Director of Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to the position of Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). After confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Olsen will replace outgoing Deputy Director Joe Bordogna.

Olsen will bring with her an impressive record of service, including experience with both science agencies and with Congress. She joined the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President in August 2002, where she serves as OSTP Director John Marburger’s deputy for science. From May 1999 to April 2002, she was Chief Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a role in which she served as the Administrator’s senior scientific advisor and the major interface with the national and international scientific community. Olsen has also held numerous previous positions at NSF dating back to 1994, including the Senior Staff Associate for the Science and Technology Centers in the Office of Integrative Activities, as well as Acting Deputy Director for the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience. In addition to her experience in federal science agencies, Dr. Olsen also has experience working for Congress. From February 1996 until November 1997, she was a Brookings Institute Legislative Fellow and then on detail from NSF in the Office of Senator Conrad Burns of Montana.

Dr. Olsen earned her BS in biology and psychology from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine. Her academic career includes one year as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School, and two positions at the State University of New York at Stony Brook: research scientist at Long Island Research Institute and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.