68 Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists Endorse President Obama’s Science Policies

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/nobel-laureates-endorse-obama/

October 18, 2012, 10:19 am 51 Comments

Nobel Laureates Endorse Obama
By KENNETH CHANG

Among Nobel laureates, President Obama appears to have won by a landslide.

Sixty-eight Nobel Prize winners in the science fields, including the two Americans who won this year’s chemistry prize, have signed a letter endorsing Mr. Obama over his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

“President Obama understands the key role science has played in building a prosperous America,” the laureates wrote in a letter that was released on Wednesday. Mr. Obama “has championed investment in science and technology research that is the engine of our economy.”

The signers said that Mr. Romney, by contrast, “supports a budget that, if implemented, would devastate a long tradition of support for public research and investment in science at a time when this country’s future depends, as never before, on innovation.”

In September, 2008, 61 American winners of a science Nobel — in medicine, physics or chemistry — signed a similar letter endorsing Mr. Obama over Senator John McCain, a number that rose to 76 by the end of October.

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An Open Letter to the American People

America’s economic future, the quality of our health, and the quality of our environment depend on
our ability to continue America’s proud legacy of discovery and invention. As winners of the Nobel
Prizes in science, we are proud of our contribution to the extraordinary advances American science
has made in recent years. But we’re deeply concerned that without leadership and continued
commitment to scientific research the next generation of Americans will not make and benefit from
future discoveries.

President Obama understands the key role science has played in building a prosperous America, has
delivered on his promise to renew our faith in science-based decision making and has championed
investment in science and technology research that is the engine of our economy. He has built
strong programs to educate young Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
and programs to provide Americans the training they need to keep pace with a technology-driven
economy.

His opponent supports a budget that, if implemented, would devastate a long tradition of support for
public research and investment in science at a time when this country’s future depends, as never
before, on innovation. He has also taken positions that privilege ideology over clear scientific
evidence on climate change.

As a nation we must continue the investments that revolutionized agriculture, invented the Internet,
gave us modern medicine and enabled a strong national defense. Abandoning this tradition would be
a devastating step backwards. If you believe, as we do, that America’s future is bound in essential
ways to science and innovation, we urge you to join us in working to ensure the reelection of
President Obama.

Alexei Abrikosov, Physics '03
Peter Agre, Chemistry '03
Sidney Altman, Chemistry, '89
Philip Anderson, Physics, '77
David Baltimore, Medicine '75
Paul Berg, Chemistry, '80
J. Michael Bishop, Medicine, '89
Elizabeth Blackburn, Medicine, '09
Günter Blobel, Medicine, '99
Nicolaas Bloembergen, Physics, '81
Linda Buck, Medicine, '04
Mario Capecchi, Medicine, '07
Martin Chalfie, Chemistry, '08
Leon Cooper, Physics, '72
James Cronin, Physics, '80
Robert Curl, Chemistry, '96
Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry, '88
Edmond Fischer, Medicine, '92
Val Fitch, Physics, '80
Jerome Friedman, Physics, '90
Murray Gell-Mann, Physics, '69
Walter Gilbert, Chemistry, '80
Donald Glaser, Physics, '60
Sheldon Glashow, Physics, '79
Roy Glauber, Physics, '05
Joseph Goldstein, Medicine, '85
Paul Greengard, Medicine, '00
Carol Greider, Medicine, '09
David Gross, Physics, '04
Robert Grubbs, Chemistry, '05
Roger Guillemin, Medicine, '77
John Hall, Physics, '05
Leland Hartwell, Medicine, '01
Alan Heeger, Chemistry, '00
Dudley Herschbach, Chemistry, '86
Roald Hoffmann, Chemistry, '81
H. Robert Horvitz, Medicine, '02
David Hubel, Medicine, '81
Eric Kandel, Medicine, '00
Brian Kobilka, Chemistry, '12
Roger Kornberg, Chemistry, '06
Leon Lederman, Physics, '88
Robert Lefkowitz, Chemistry, '12
Rudy Marcus, Chemistry, '92
John Mather, Physics, '06
Craig Mello, Medicine, '06
Mario Molina, Chemistry, '95
Douglas Osheroff, Physics, '96
Arno Penzias, Physics, '78
Martin Perl, Physics, '95
David Politzer, Physics, '04
Stanley Prusiner, Medicine, '97
Burton Richter, Physics, '76
Richard Schrock, Chemistry, '05
Hamilton Smith, Medicine, '78
Oliver Smithies, Medicine, '07
George Smoot, Physics, '06
Thomas Steitz, Chemistry, '09
Jack Szostak, Medicine, '09
Joseph Taylor Jr, Physics, '93
Charles Townes, Physics, '64
Roger Tsien, Chemistry, '08
Daniel Tsui, Physics, '98
James Watson, Medicine, '62
Carl Wieman, Physics, '01
Eric Wieschaus, Medicine, '95
Frank Wilczek, Physics, '04
Robert Wilson, Physics, '78

The views expressed in this letter represent those of the signers acting as individual citizens. They do
not necessarily represent the views of the institutions with which they are affiliated. The Medicine
award is for "Physiology or Medicine."