INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION, 1959-79 333 



Chairman Miller was ecstatic with the results of the 1967 Panel. 

 In a private letter to Secretary Rusk, he exulted: 



Your keynote address was perfectly tailored to the international flavor of our 

 theme, and served to enhance the meeting by setting the stage for what proved to 

 be a most stimulating and profound series of discussions. 



IMPROVING MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENCES 



On May 7 and 8, 1967, the Panel held an unusual series of executive 

 sessions, charged with coming up with recommendations for improving 

 the management of international scientific affairs by Federal agencies. 

 It was a monumental task, and a subcommittee including Drs. Roger 

 Revelle, Harrison Brown, and Philip Handler came up with a series of 

 recommendations which were aired in a further executive session of the 

 Panel with the committee on January 25, 1968. The Panel agreed that 

 clear-cut efforts should be made to enhance the importance of science 

 attaches in American embassies throughout the world. In its report it 

 was also stated: 



The Panel also stressed the international character of science, the importance of 

 international scientific and technological communication, and the potential role of 

 scientific collaboration in bringing nations closer together. * * * Attaches should 

 get to know the scientific communities to which they are assigned and they should 

 constantly search for means by which the local scientific community can be brought 

 into closer contact with the scientific community in the United States. 



There was considerable discussion at the executive session of the 

 jealousy of higher ranking Foreign Service officers toward the intrusion 

 of the newer, "strange breed" of science attaches. Congressman 

 Daddario related that in a discussion at the Foreign Affairs Institute, 

 he ran into a buzz saw of opposition from senior officials: 



One of these men in opposition to it said that "We don't have any vacancies 

 and we ought not to create more because we have enough." I suggested probably we 

 should get rid of one of the ones they had and one of the younger fellows said: "I 

 have some recommendations." 



The upshot of this discussion was that Daddario wrote a strong 

 letter to President-elect Nixon on November 26, 1968 urging the up- 

 grading of the international scientific affairs activities in the State 

 Department: 



I am convinced, as are a number of my colleagues here in Congress, that the 

 potential of science and technology as a tool of diplomacy has never quite been 

 grasped heretofore by any administration. * * * I do urge you to give consideration 

 to placing this program at the Assistant Secretary level and to emphasize its importance 

 by securing the highest possible professional competence to implement it. 



The assistant secretaryship was eventually established in 1974, 

 and the committee continued to work effectively to raise the stature 

 of the science attaches. 



