John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, visited campus on Tuesday, meeting with faculty, students and administrators to discuss the latest in research, education and technology trends.

“Dr. Holdren is the adviser to the President of the United States on Science and Technology Policy,” said Executive Vice President for Research Steve Cross. “The fact that we were able to share insights into our work and our ideas was a fantastic opportunity.”

Holdren visited with students, toured the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute and had a roundtable discussion with several faculty about innovation and technology in the classroom for STEM fields and research initiatives that are important to the White House.

“The tour went extremely well, and Dr. Holdren was so excited about the students’ work,” said Ben Wang, director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. “I think his visit demonstrates our thought leadership. He is someone who has a lot of influence over science and technology policy in our country and he chose to spend 90 minutes with our faculty, students and staff. It means a lot.”

“Dr. Holdren has had a huge impact on raising the profile of STEM in the White House,” said Robert Knotts, director of Federal Relations. “Georgia Tech is engaged with OSTP on many fronts, so we were thrilled to have Dr. Holdren see firsthand the work we’re doing to help solve many of the big research and education-related grand challenges faced by our country.”