Statement by the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 16, 2002
President Bush today named 17 leading scientists, doctors, ethicists,
social scientists, lawyers, and theologians to serve on the President's
Council on Bioethics. The Council will be chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, a
prominent bioethicist from the University of Chicago who was previously
named. As biomedical science continues to develop at a rapid pace, our
society must confront increasingly difficult ethical questions. The Council
will keep the President and our nation apprised of new developments and
provide a forum for discussion and evaluation of these profound issues.
The Council will consider a range of bioethical matters connected with
specific biomedical and technological activities, such as embryo and stem
cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, uses of knowledge and techniques
derived from human genetics or the neurosciences, and end-of-life issues.
The Council may also study broader ethical and social issues, such as
the protection of human subjects in research and the appropriate uses
of biomedical technologies.
The Council's paramount objective will be to develop a deep understanding
of the issues that it considers and to advise the President of the complex
and often competing moral positions associated with biomedical innovation.
The President has assembled a diverse group of individuals to address
these matters, who will bring a variety of perspectives to these challenging
issues. Council members have been chosen not only for their specialized
knowledge, but also for their thoughtfulness and their devotion to serious
ethical inquiry. With their assistance and guidance, the President will
continue to forge a policy on bioethical issues that reflects his strong
support of science and technology, as well as his deep respect for human
life and human dignity.
The Council will hold its first meeting on January 17-18, 2002, in Washington,
D.C. Council members include:
Leon R. Kass, M.D. Chair. Addie Clark Harding Professor, College and the
Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and Hertog Fellow,
American Enterprise Institute. Professor Kass, a nationally renowned bioethicist,
has written extensively on biology and human affairs. His works include
Toward a More Natural Science (1984), The Hungry Soul (1994), and The
Ethics of Human Clonng (1998, with James Q. Wilson).
Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
University California San Francisco. Professor Blackburn, a distinguished
cell biologist whose research is on chromosome telomere structure, holds
a number of awards and prizes, including the California Scientist of the
Year Award (1999) and the American Association for Cancer Research-G.H.A.
Clowes Memorial Award (2000). She is an elected fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991) and a member of the Institute of Medicine
(2000). She has also served as President of the American Society for Cell
Biology (1998).
Stephen Carter, J.D. William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale Law
School. Professor Carter teaches constitutional law and law and religion.
His recent books include God's Name in Vain (2000), Civility (1998), and
Integrity (1996).
Rebecca Dresser, J.D., M.S. Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law, Washington
University School of Law. Professor Dresser has written extensively on
bioethical issues, and she serves on the editorial boards of IRB: Ethics
and Human Research and the American Journal of Bioethics Her book, When
Science Offers Salvation: Patient Advocacy and Research Ethics, was published
last spring.
Daniel Foster, M.D. Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Foster, whose research is in intermediary
metabolism, has received the Banting Medal, the Joslin Medal, the Tinsley
R. Harrison Medal and the Robert H. Williams Distinguished Chair of Medicine
Award for his work. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academy of Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences.
Francis Fukuyama, Ph.D. Bernard Schwartz Professor of International Political
Economy, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns
Hopkins University. Professor Fukuyama has written widely on the human
and political implications of modern technological society. His books
include The End of History and the Last Man (1993), The Great Disruption:
Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order (2000), and a new
book on biotechnology that will appear shortly.
Michael Gazzaniga, Ph.D. Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience,
Dartmouth College. Professor Gazzaniga conducts research on how the brain
enables the mind. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science and the American Neurological Association. His publications
include The New Cognitive Neurosciences (2000) and The Mind's Past (1998).
Robert P. George, J.D., D. Phil. McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence,
Princeton University, and Director of the James Madison Program in American
Ideals and Institutions. A lawyer and constitutional scholar, Professor
George is the author of Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality
(1995) and In Defense of Natural Law (1999). He is a member of the editorial
board of the American Journal of Jurisprudence and the board of directors
of the Philosophy Education Society.
Alfonso Gomez-Lobo, Ph.D. Ryan Family Professor of Metaphysics and Moral
Philosophy, Georgetown University. Professor Gomez-Lobo specializes in
Greek philosophy, Greek historiography, the history of ethics, and contemporary
natural law theory. He is the recipient of several awards, including a
research fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation. His latest book, Morality
and the Human Goods, will appear shortly.
Mary Ann Glendon, J.D., L.LM. Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard
University. Professor Glendon teaches and writes on international
human rights, comparative law, and constitutional law issues. The
National Law Journal named her one of the "Fifty Most Influential
Women Lawyers in America" in 1998.
William B. Hurlbut, M.D. Consulting Professor in Human Biology, Stanford
University. Dr. Hurlbut's main areas of interest involve the ethical issues
associated with advancing biotechnology and neuroscience, and the integration
of philosophy of biology with theology. Most recently, he has worked with
the Center for International Security and Cooperation on a project formulating
policy on Chemical and Biological Warfare and with NASA on projects in
astrobiology.
Charles Krauthammer, M.D. National Columnist, The Washington Post. Dr.
Krauthammer, who received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School
and practiced psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital for several
years, writes a nationally syndicated editorial page column for The Washington
Post Writers Group. He won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary.
He has written many newspaper and magazine articles on bioethical topics,
including stem cell research, cloning, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.
William F. May, Ph.D. Cary M. Maguire Professor of Ethics Emeritus, Southern
Methodist University. Professor May, a distinguished and widely respected
medical ethicist, was until last June head of the Maguire Center of Ethics
at SMU. He is also a founding fellow of the Hastings Center for Bioethics.
His numerous books include Beleaguered Rulers: The Public Obligation of
the Professional (2001) and The Physician's Covenant : Images of the Healer
in Medical Ethics (1983); and The Patient's Ordeal (1991).
Paul McHugh, M.D. Henry Phipps Professor of Psychiatry and Director of
the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, and Psychiatrist-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. McHugh, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy
of Sciences, is currently Co-Chairman, Ethics Committee of the American
College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He also serves on the board of The
American Scholar. His writings include Genes, Brain, and Behavior (1990)
and essays on assisted suicide and the misuse of psychiatry.
Gilbert Meilaender, Ph.D. Richard & Phyllis Duesenberg Professor of
Christian Ethics at Valparaiso University. Professor Meilaender is an
editor for the Journal of Religious Ethics and the Religious Studies Review
. He takes a special interest in bioethics and is a Fellow of the Hastings
Center. His books include Body, Soul, and Bioethics (1995) and Bioethics:
A Primer for Christians (1997).
Janet D. Rowley, M.D., D.Sc. Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor
of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Human Genetics,
Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. Dr. Rowely is internationally
renowned for her studies of chromosome abnormalities in human leukemia
and lymphoma. She is the recipient of the National Medal of Science (1999)
and the Albert Lasker Clinical Medicine Research Prize (1998), the most
distinguished American honor for clinical medical research.
Michael J. Sandel, Ph.D. Professor of Government, Harvard University.
Professor Sandel, who was a Rhodes Scholar, teaches contemporary political
philosophy and the history of political thought. Sandel's books include
Democracy's Discontent: America In Search of a Public Philosophy (1996)
and Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982). He has received fellowships
from the Ford Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and
the National Endowment for the Humanities.
James Q. Wilson, Ph.D. The James A. Collins Professor of Management and
Public Policy Emeritus at the University of California Los Angeles. Professor
Wilson, one of the nation's most respected political scientists, has written
extensively on human nature and ethics. His publications include The Moral
Sense (1997) and Moral Judgement: Does the Abuse Excuse Threaten Our Legal
System? (1998).
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