UNM,
Sandia charter establishes policy office
UNM President
F. Chris Garcia and officials from Sandia National Laboratories
recently signed a charter agreement to collaborate on the establishment
of an Office for Policy, Security and Technology at UNM.
 |
| UNM
President F. Chris Garcia, Sandia President and Director
C. Paul Robinson, Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President
Michael F. Camardo and UNM Vice Provost for Research Terry
Yates get ready to sign an agreement formalizing a collaborative
to nurture scholarly thought and research on policy issues
linked to world security. |
With funding
from the Lockheed Martin Corp. of $250,000 per year for a five-year
period, the office will identify and explore opportunities for
UNM and Sandia National Laboratories to collaborate on national
issues that may require multidisciplinary approaches. Interactions
between technology and policy are central to understanding in
many important and dynamic national and international areas
ranging from deterrence and homeland security to water and energy,
states the background section of the agreement.
The
establishment of the Office for Policy, Security and Technology
at UNM provides a timely opportunity for the University and
Sandia National Laboratories to collaborate on some of the most
important and sensitive issues currently facing our state, the
nation and the world, Garcia said. UNM will draw
from its expertise across a range of disciplines-such as political
science, economics and various technical areas-to focus on policy
areas where technology crosses into such areas as weapons of
mass destruction, terrorism and homeland security, for example.
I believe the University has a responsibility to help address
these kinds of policy issues.
This
is a critical area of need for the nation and we are fortunate
that the University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories
have the unique expertise necessary to take a leadership position
at this important time in our history, said Terry Yates,
Ph.D., UNM vice provost for Research.
The office
will be a UNM unit reporting to Yates. Roger L. Hagengruber,
Ph.D., who served as senior vice president for Special Projects
for National Security at Sandia National Laboratories, will
serve as the offices initial director. Other collaborators
and researchers will come from UNM, Sandia and other institutions.
The office
will be governed by a board consisting of one member named by
UNM, one by Sandia and a third representing the public who will
be approved for a fixed term by both UNM and Sandia.
The offices
mission, states the charter, will be to illuminate, investigate
and educate where technology is a causative or potentially curative
element of insecurity in areas such as those related to
weapons of mass destruction; arms control and non-proliferation;
terrorism and homeland security; water, environment and energy;
borders and sustainable development, and others.
...researchers
from diverse disciplines and organizations can engage in research,
scholarship and public service to conduct studies,
analyses and assessments; curriculum and course development;
conferences and seminars; collaborative research; public survey
and outreach and more.