John Harmen Marburger III (1941–2011)

John (Jack) Harmen Marburger III, the White House science adviser to President George W. Bush, died at his home in Port Jefferson, NY, on 28 July 2011. His death was the culmination of a battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma that extended over more than 4 years. He was a prominent physicist, a college president, and the longest-serving presidential science adviser in U.S. history. Jack was born on Staten Island, New York, on 8 February 1941 to Virginia Smith and John H. Marburger Jr., and grew up in Severna Park, Maryland. He graduated from Princeton University in 1962 with a B.S. in Physics and spent a year working at Goddard Space Flight Center. He entered Stanford University's Department of Applied Physics in 1963, receiving his Ph.D. in 1967. At the University of Southern California (USC), Jack became a member of the Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering, specializing in nonlinear and quantum optics. He served as Chairman of the Physics Department in 1972 and Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 1976. In 1980, at the age of 39, he left USC to become the third president of Stony Brook University, the State University of New York, where he served for 14 years. His leadership revived growth at the institution, including the establishment of a medical school and hospital, which have since become world leaders in medical and scientific research and training. These achievements led to the election of Stony Brook University to the Association of American Universities in 2001. Jack would later return to Stony Brook after his service in the White House, to become vice president for research. In January 1998, Jack became the first president of Brookhaven Science Associates, a partnership between Stony Brook University and the Battelle Memorial Institute, leading to a successful bid to manage Brookhaven National Laboratory, a federal laboratory operated for the Department of Energy. He was a proponent of nuclear energy and was named laboratory director, but found himself at the center of a storm of controversy with the surrounding Long Island community over a tritium leakage from the High Flux Beam Reactor. His honesty and transparency led to a trusted relationship between Brookhaven and the community, which still exists today. He transformed the laboratory's environmental restoration and stewardship, such that nine internal laboratory organizations achieved ISO 14001 registration, a standard internationally recognized for environmental management. Jack also helped Brookhaven to grow, establishing the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the laboratory. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: COURTESY OF BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY In 2001, President George W. Bush asked Jack to join his administration as his science adviser and as head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Under President Bush, he helped forge the American Competitiveness Initiative to support research and education programs through the Office of Science in the Department of Energy, core research in the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation. In the immediate aftermath of the 11 September tragedy, Jack took charge of his office. This commitment to his country would remain during the 8 years of his service in the White House. Jack dealt with the most formidable scientific issues of our generation, including stem cell research and climate change. Those who differed with Administration policy during his tenure often injected politics into the scientific debate. They would resort to intimidating attack, mixing their ideology with scientific argument. Jack understood the danger of this mix and kept them separate. He believed profoundly that his job was to give the president, and the public, the best scientific advice surrounding public policy issues and not to serve as just another interest group trying to influence Washington politics. Somehow he managed to “keep his cool,” responding with calm and humor. He understood the rigor of the scientific method and tried to keep it sequestered from the politics of the time. This standard of leadership remains a benchmark for those who serve this nation in the name of science. I knew Jack from his USC days, but we met again at a reception at the Italian Embassy in late 2001. Both of our families immediately formed a close bond, and from then on, my wife Eva and I “followed” Jack and his wife Carol through Washington. They were living in an apartment building, to which we moved shortly after I was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March of 2002. When they purchased an apartment, we followed suit a few years later. Together, we shared the joys and frustrations of public service and many wonderful cocktail hours and dinners. Jack loved science. All throughout his service in the Bush Administration, while he and Carol were fighting for his life against the cancer within him, he continued his commitment to science. Somehow, in the midst of his leadership responsibilities and his cancer, he managed to finish his book Constructing Reality , to be published by Cambridge University Press this September. Typically, the table of contents tells us something of this remarkable man. Dealing with the most complex issues in physics, including gauge theory, quantum field theory, and string theory, the chapters are headed by: “The Nature of Things,” “The Proliferation of Matter,” and “The Language of Nature.” The music of science was Jack's love. He found ways to express nature's complex beauty to everyone around him. He applied its rigor to the most complex issues he faced during his exemplary lifetime. We share the grief of all those who knew and loved Jack. He will be remembered for his intelligence, warmth, an evenhanded and objective demeanor, and a remarkable ability to bring people together to collaborate. He was dedicated to his profession, his country, and to his family who had unwavering support for this wonderful man. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Carol; two sons; a grandson; and a sister. [1]: pending:yes