SSTI Digest

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Tony Brown, director of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department, announced his resignation effective Feb. 27, to become chief executive officer of the Uptown Consortium in Cincinnati.

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce named Pamela Christenson as the first director for the new Bureau of Entrepreneurship.

Sherry Farwell has been named as the new head of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Dr. Farwell currently serves as dean of graduate education and research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Teri Ooms is the first director of the new Joint Urban Studies Center in Wilkes Barre, Penn.

BioFlorida named Diana Robinson as its new president.

Brian Vogt has been appointed director of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

With Congressional approval, the Department of Homeland Security's principal research unit could receive a substantial increase in its fiscal year 2005 budget. The Administration's FY05 request for the Science and Technology Directorate is $1.039 billion -- 13.8 percent higher than the FY04 appropriation level of $913 million.

The agency's Budget in Brief, released on Monday, only highlights $77 million of the $119 million increase requested for the directorate's Research, Development, Acquisition and Operations line item.

Venture capital (VC) investments in the U.S. continued to surge in the fourth quarter of 2003, two independent reports show. Among highlights, investment in life sciences companies outpaced other industry sectors. The sector's $4.89 billion total for the full year 2003 is the highest proportion directed to the life sciences in the last 12 years, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the top 10 U.S. universities receiving the most patents during calendar year 2003. The University of California tops the list for the tenth consecutive year.

While the first seven places went to the same research institutions as 2002, with some rearrangement of order, the 8-10 places were improvements. Cornell rose 11 places from its 2002 finish to join the 2003 list tied for the 10th spot with the University of Florida.

The top 10 and the number of patents were:

As the nation's economy shifts to knowledge- and technology-based industries, Mississippi's colleges and universities must provide expertise and leadership to attract new jobs and build a stable state economy, members of a special committee told the state House of Representatives last week.

The state must quickly commit substantial resources to higher education to achieve the goal of making Mississippi competitive in the New Economy, the chairs of the McCoy Working Group said. The group – organized by state Reps. Billy McCoy, Steve Holland and Charles Young – was created by the Mississippi Legislature last spring to develop a 20-year strategy for investment in higher education. The group is co-chaired by University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat, Commissioner of Agriculture Lester Spell and Hinds Community College President Clyde Muse.

In SSTI's final look at the 2004 State of the State and Budget addresses, the importance of building tech-based economies continues to be emphasized by governors across the country. Below are excerpts from speeches given in Alabama, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.