FIRST PHYSICIST IN CONGRESS crossed party lines to advance science and math education
LINDA WANG, C&EN WASHINGTON
THE SCIENTIFIC community is
about to lose one of its biggest advocates in Congress. Rep. Vernon J.
Ehlers (R-Mich.), a Ph.D. physicist,
will retire at the end of this year after
serving in the U. S. House of Representatives for eight-and-a-half terms.
“I owe it to my family to become
an active, participating family
member again,” says the 76-year-old
congressman. “Item one is to spend
some time with my wife. Item two
is to clean the basement, which she
wants me to do.”
For the past 17 years, Ehlers has
been tending to issues in a different sort of house. Elected to the
House of Representatives in a special election in December 1993,
Ehlers became the first physicist to serve in Congress. “Having a
Ph. D. gives you more credibility with the general public and per-
haps with other people, too,” he says.
Part of Ehlers’ appeal is his ability to connect with the public. “If
you really want to reach the average person, you have to learn to
speak about the material and be able to explain it in the terms that
the public will understand, and that’s not something that happens
very easily,” he says. For his outreach efforts, Ehlers won an American Chemical Society Award for Public Service in 2000.
In Congress, Ehlers championed increased federal support for
U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S TEM)
education. With his scientific background, he gained the respect of
both Democrats and Republicans. “People regard science as a bipartisan issue,” he says. “I recall one year, I was very anxious to get
more money for teacher education around the country for summer
workshops. I went around and met personally with every member
of the appropriations committee that governed that expenditure. I
managed to get a fairly substantial increase in funding as a result.”
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS include a 1998 rewrite of the U. S.’s statement on science policy and the introduction of the National Science Education Acts of 2000. He also introduced legislation that
established the position of deputy administrator for science and
technology at the Environmental Protection Agency and helped
launch the bipartisan S TEM Education Caucus to support K– 12
STEM education. He has served on the Committee on Science &
Technology since arriving in Washington.
“As a scientist, you get used to being lonely,” says Ehlers of the
fact that he’s always been among a handful of scientists in Con-
gress. Still, he’s tried to make a difference. “I don’t expect mem-
bers of Congress to know all the ins and outs of science,” he says.
“I would just very quietly explain to them what the issues were, so
that way I gained respect, and they learned quite a bit.”
The educator role is not new to Ehlers. “Even when I was a
student in school, I was spending a lot of my time educating other
PETER CUTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
kids,” he says. “I would sit down
with them and explain the math
problems or the science issues.”
After earning a Ph. D. in nuclear
physics from the University of
California, Berkeley, in 1960, Ehlers
joined the faculty as a researcher
and lecturer. In 1966, he moved to
Grand Rapids, Mich., to become a
physics professor at Calvin College.
While there, he became interested
in environmental issues.
In retirement, Ehlers
(right) plans to continue
his outreach to scientific
organizations. Here, he
speaks with Glenn Ruskin,
director of the ACS Office of
Public Affairs.
“The county I was living in had
serious environmental problems,
so I was persuaded to run for
county commissioner,” he says.
“Since I was a scientist with a
strong environmental interest, my
friends thought I might be able to
help solve such problems. I ran for
county commissioner and won, and
after a few years had solved most of
He later ran for and won a seat in the Michigan House of Represen-
tatives. After two years, he was elected to the Michigan State Senate.
Meanwhile, Ehlers had gotten involved in federal affairs through
the American Physical Society. “I attended a meeting where a con-
gressman who was a chemist spoke, and he encouraged us to get
to know our member of Congress better, which I did. My member
of Congress was Gerald Ford. I offered to him that I would put to-
gether a group of scientists to meet with him whenever he needed
scientific advice,” he says. “He was very supportive of the idea, and
so we met frequently and discussed the issues of concern to him.”
The experience got Ehlers thinking about “the whole idea that
we have to make sure that members of Congress are adequately
educated regarding scientific issues,” he says. “That eventually led
to me running for Congress myself.”
Despite his 80-hour-per-week work schedule, Ehlers has tried
to keep up with the latest advances in science and technology and
is still a scientist at heart. “I’ve met with scientists, I tried to read
some of the science journals, and I would talk with Rush Holt, who
was interested in all types of science,” he says. Rep. Rush Holt (D-
N. J.) also holds a Ph. D. in physics. “I just keep slugging away at it.
It’s about all you can do,” he says.
And although Ehlers has made his mark in Congress as a science
proponent, he still misses his days in the lab. “It’s fun to work with
new ideas and be in the lab,” he says. “I miss that part of it a lot.”
True to his science roots, Ehlers admits that he carries around a
pocket protector, and he’s proud of it. “It’s become a symbol,” he says.
“I use it when talking to students about going into science. I tell them,
‘You’re either going to be a nerd or you’re going to work for a nerd,
which would you rather do?’ Almost all of them say, ‘Be a nerd.’ ” ;
