The Henry and Bryna David Endowment
The article by Elizabeth Loftus that begins on the following page is the first annual Henry and Bryna David Article/Lecture. It was presented in person at the National Academy of Sciences on May 7, 2002, to an invited audience. Financial support for the activity comes from a generous bequest from the Davids’ estate to support joint activities by Issues in Science and Technology and the Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) of the National Research Council.
Henry David was a scholar with a lifelong commitment to the advancement of the social sciences and their contribution to public policy that he demonstrated in his numerous leadership roles, including professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, executive director of the Assembly of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University, president of the New School for Social Research, dean of the graduate faculty of political and social sciences at Columbia University, and executive director of the National Manpower Council.
Bryna David was also active in public policy, working as an assistant to Eleanor Roosevelt during the 1948 UN General Assembly in Paris, as a scholar in residence at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, and as director of the National Manpower Council.
We at Issues are very pleased with the opportunity to work closely with DBASSE. Although much of what we publish is built on the foundation of the physical and life sciences, the application of this information to public policy is essentially a social science. The work that DBASSE does in individual disciplines such as economics and psychology and in crossdisciplinary areas such as child development, education, and human performance is of critical importance to a wide range of science and technology policy concerns. The David Endowment will enable Issues to tap DBASSE expertise and improve the quality of the magazine.
DBASSE staff and board members worked with Issues editors in selecting Elizabeth Loftus to prepare the first article/lecture, and they will continue to play that role in the future. In addition, endowment funds will be used to support an annual David Fellow from the DBASSE staff to work with Issues each year. The David Fellow, who will be selected on the basis of a proposed work plan, will contribute to Issues in a variety of ways–writing feature articles or book reviews, preparing a Real Numbers section, helping other DBASSE staff or committee members prepare articles, or identifying promising topics and authors for articles. The David Endowment will capitalize on the synergy between the two activities and will significantly enhance the visibility and influence of social and behavioral science expertise in public policy formation.
The National Academies and the University of Texas at Dallas are extremely grateful for this generous bequest from the Davids and for the help of the estate trustees, Alex Clark and Philip Hemily, who helped us design activities that will enhance the work that we do as well as carry on the commitment of the Davids to use the insights of the social and behavioral sciences to inform public policy.