Not walking the walk at the White House

I was forgiving of President Obama keeping the Nobel Laureates waiting for half an hour in the Roosevelt Room at the White House and then giving them short shrift to attend to other matters. I placed no blame on the President for the Protocol disaster that was his chief of Protocol’s remarks at the reception, which included a large mea culpa for failing to mention the presence of a House member and a virtual shrug at leaving off the name of the first woman to ever win the prize in Economics, Elinor Ostrom. That shrug was commensurate with her remarks, in any case, which seemed to feel the presence of the Laureates at reception presumably in their honor was an after thought. I was willing to give the President a pass, but am no longer so willing.

The first excuse: The President had a very busy day. Yes, he did. And the Laureates know he has much on his plate. But he kept them, along with the Swedish and Norwegian embassies waiting for a date to meet. Presumably, the wait was so that he could find a date that would allow time. He scheduled his Afghan talk and the meeting with the Laureates on the same day, no one else did. It is telling that he had no such conflicts when meeting with “Laureate of Rock n’ Roll” Bruce Springsteen. True, Springsteen was a high profile supporter in his campaign. But let’s get real, the President just likes to hang wth celebrities. If in doubt, take a look at his State Dinner invitations. Notably absent, brand new Laureate and Indian American Venkatraman
Ramakrishnan, included was Stephen Spielberg.

At the White House the Laureates were determined to make the most of their time with the President and asked about his commitment to science and math education and his plans to improve it across the U.S. The President then delivered a mini-campaign speech and his aides, before too many more questions could be posed, opened the door to usher the Laureates and their families out.

If President Obama truly wants to improve science and math education and promote the same in this country perhaps he could treat those who have reached the pinnacle of their fields - those who have changed the way science is done, opened up new paths of inquiry and established the basis for entire new applied endeavors - at least as well as he does rock stars. Afghanistan and the economy aside, if he has time to party with the Boss, he has time to have press conference with the Laureates.

Here in Stockholm the Laureates are treated as celebrities. Autograph seekers wait outside the hotel. People line up to have their photos taken with the prize winners, take photographs of their passing cars and snap shots of them as the enter and leave events.

The award ceremonies themselves are televised and half of Sweden watches. I am told it is actually an event across much of the world. One of the Prize in Medicine Laureates has been asked to address the members of Parliament.

If you want to know why we are falling behind this may be a good place to start. I respect all the artists celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors, but these people and their work do not lack recognition. If the President is serious about keeping the United States in the forefront on science and technology I strongly advise to him consider changing whom he celebrates and how.