United States President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

The United States President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the President on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by President George W. Bush, and was most recently re-chartered by President Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539.

History

The council follows a tradition of presidential advisory panels focused on science and technology that dates back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Science Advisory Board, continued by President Harry Truman. Renamed the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) by Dwight Eisenhower, it was disbanded by President Richard Nixon.

Reagan science advisor Jay Keyworth re-established a smaller "White House Science Council" It reported, however, to him, not directly to the President. Renamed PCAST, and reporting directly to the President, a new council was chartered by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, enabling the President to receive advice directly from the private and academic sectors on technology, scientific research priorities, and mathematics and science education.