Trump's snub of Nobel winners another blow to science in U.S.

By Keith Peterson

Guest columnist

When President John F. Kennedy hosted a gala dinner for Nobel Prize winners in 1962, he observed that it was the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that had been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. This year, the Trump administration has said there will be no celebratory dinner for America's Nobel winners and there are reports that some of them are relieved. Has it really come to this?

The Nobels have always been special for me. As a grad student in Stockholm in 1976, I won a student lottery and a single ticket for a seat in the far reaches of the balcony of the Opera House to watch two Chicagoans - Milton Friedman in Economics and Saul Bellow in literature - step forward and receive their prizes from King Karl XVI Gustav. Twenty-five years later, when I served as the press spokesman at the American Embassy in Stockholm, the annual arrival of the American Nobel Prize winners was always a special event. As the ceremony was in December, we had a nickname for them - "The Frozen Chosen."

The Nobel Committee was very covetous of the winners and allowed the American ambassador only 90 minutes to host them for a lunch. And when the Nobel Prize marked its centennial, 100 former American Nobel Prize winners came to Stockholm. I had the task of organizing their class photo. You would think that people that smart could sit down, face forward and stop talking long enough for a photo to be taken, but apparently not.

The Nobels are a celebration of the highest level of human achievement in the sciences and in literature. The Peace Prize, given in Oslo, often more controversial, has nonetheless recognized great political courage. American winners of the prize should serve as an inspiration, particularly to our young people, to dream of achieving great breakthroughs and to stand on that stage in Stockholm.

Many will see President Donald Trump's decision not to hold an event recognizing this year's winners as part and parcel of a continuing "war on science," where political ideology shoulders aside inconvenient scientific facts. This nation has long been admired for its technological achievements. Even when people around the globe did not agree with our policies, they were awed by American ingenuity, from vaccines to men on the moon to iPhones. These achievements should, theoretically, make every American proud. Our technological advances are the foundation of our prosperity and we should be doing everything we can to improve our schools, to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. Increasingly, employers in the U.S. cannot find enough American workers with the right skills in an age when technology increasingly dominates our economy. To treat science as some sort of liberal conspiracy will only damage our nation's future prospects.

Through the decades, America has dominated the Nobel Prizes. This speaks volumes about the quality of our scientists, universities and research institutions as well as the academic freedom that they enjoy. So, when this administration refuses to recognize these achievements or supports tax legislation that would harm our universities, it does damage in ways that can only leave America poorer and less admired in the eyes of the world.

Keith Peterson is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served as a U.S. Embassy press spokesman in seven countries during a 29-year career.