Carl Wieman, a Nobel-prize-winning physicist, has been confirmed by the US Senate as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to physicsworld. The OSTP advises the US president on domestic and international affairs as they relate to science and technology.
Wieman will take an unpaid leave from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in order to take on the new position. He will report to OSTP director John Holdren, a fellow physicist who joined the White House in 2009. Weiman shares his Nobel Prize with Wolfgang Ketterle and Eric Cornell for work involving atom optics.
