Utica native and Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, chairman of the House Science Committee, will deliver the Hansmann Lecture at Hamilton College tonight, Sept. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel. The lecture, titled "Creating a Scientifically Literate Political Culture" is free and open to the public.
The Hansmann Lecture series, established in 1993 in honor of the Hansmann family, brings recognized leaders to Hamilton to present a lecture. Ralph Hansmann was a member of the class of 1940 and is a life trustee of Hamilton College. The focus of the lecture rotates every three years to highlight a chosen area of curriculum, and 2001 will be the third year of a cycle focusing on the sciences. Congressman Boehlert will speak about federal science policy and its impact on undergraduate education.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 and is currently serving in his 10th consecutive term representing Central New York. In the 2000 election he again won all nine counties and received 60 percent of the vote in a three-way race.
Boehlert has served on the Science Committee since 1983, and was elected chairman in January. The committee has jurisdiction over all federal nonmilitary scientific and technology research and development programs, on which the federal government spends more than $30 billion a year. The committee has jurisdiction over NSASA, the National Science Foundation, and research and development initiatives within the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Commerce. In addition, the committee has jurisdiction over civil aviation research and development and marine research.
Boehlert is the third-ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, serving as chairman of its subcommittee on water resources and environment from 1995 to 2000. He remains an active member of the subcommittee and also sits on the subcommittee on highways and transit, and the subcommittee on railroads.
Boehlert was reappointed by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert as a member of the select committee on intelligence, and is also a delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he serves as chairman of the Assembly's scientific and technology committee.
A graduate of Whitesboro Central High School and Utica College, he served as Oneida County executive (1979-83), was manager of public relations at Wyandotte Chemical (1961-64), and served two years in the U.S. Army. He served as chief of staff for two area Congressmen, Alexander Pirnie (1964-72), and Donald Mitchell (1973-79).
Boehlert and his wife, Marianne, have four grown children and five grandchildren. The 23rd district includes all or parts of Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego and Schoharie counties.
