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Dr. George (Jay) Keyworth II
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January 31, 2006 Read Dr. Keyworth's speech |
Dr. Keyworth is Chairman of the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Simultaneously, he remains Chairman of The Keyworth Company, a firm established in 1986 to work with companies in developing strategies for growth based on emerging and changing technologies.
From May 1981 to January 1986, Keyworth was Science Advisor to President Reagan and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. As the senior technical member of the President's staff, he led the Administration's efforts to capitalize on U.S. science and technology to strengthen industrial competitiveness, and was instrumental in establishing strong budgetary priorities for university basic research, in strengthening university engineering programs, and in stimulating more productive industrial participation in university research and education. In 1984 he was a member of the President's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness. He played key roles in the modernization of strategic military forces and in the Strategic Defense Initiative. He was also deeply involved in Administration initiatives to use science and technology better to support U.S. foreign policy interests, especially with the People's Republic of China.
Prior to his White House Service, Keyworth was Director of the Physics Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which he joined in 1968. As Director of the Physics Division he led the Laboratory's programs in experimental physics, condensed matter research, astrophysics and space science, and laser fusion. He also oversaw Los Alamos' diagnostic program of underground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site, as well as programs for satellite-based verification of compliance with nuclear test treaties.
As a research scientist Keyworth's contributions include pioneering work in high-resolution spectroscopy. As a formulator of policy, he has had widespread interactions with science and defense policy makers in many other countries, including NATO members, France, Japan, Israel, India, and The People's Republic of China. Most recently, he has focused on the broad implications of distributed computing and digital connection.
Keyworth was born in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from Deerfield Academy, he received his B.S. in Physics from Yale University in 1963. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics in 1968 from Duke University, where he conducted pioneering research in isospin conservation in nuclear reactions.