The U.S. Senate confirmed meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology. Droegemeier was nominated by President Trump in August 2018 to the important science advisor role.
Droegemeier received a B.S. in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma in 1980 and then pursued graduate studies in atmospheric science at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, earning an M.S. in 1982 and a Ph.D. in 1985. The Oklahoma meteorologist is fond of severe weather; in the past, he co-founded two centers of the National Science Foundation: the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms in 1989, and the Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere in 2003.
When appointed Droegemeier said in a statement, “I am deeply honored to have been selected by President Trump to serve the nation as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and I look forward to the Senate confirmation process.” After a lengthy process in which many of Trump’s nominees were delayed for confirmation, the U.S. Senate voted yesterday to confirm him into his new role.
Droegemeier had wide bipartisan support for his confirmation; leading Democrats and Republicans both welcomed his experience and expertise. The Senate panel’s leading Democrat, Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) said, “I think it’s safe to say that the research community is eager for this committee to quickly confirm the nominee,” after receiving dozens of endorsements for Droegemeier from fellow scientists. The IEEE-USA and other scientific organizations gave him high marks, encouraging the senate to confirm the meteorologist to the office.
