Dr Alan Bromley

Dr Alan Bromley, a distinguished professor and top advisor to US president George Bush Sr, has died at the age of 79. Born in the village of Westmeath near Ottawa, Bromley received BSc and MSc degrees from Queen’s Univ before moving to the US to obtain a PhD from the Univ of Rochester. While he stayed in the US for the rest of his life and become a US citizen in 1970, Bromley remained involved in Canadian science issues. In the late 1990s he lent his support to the campaign to obtain funding for the Canadian Neutron Facility (R$, November 18/98). More recently, he was an international referee for the Premier’s Platinum Medal for Research Excellence which was cancelled by Ontario’s Liberal government (R$, May 27/04). Bromley’s reputation rests on his success in convincing the White House to increase spending on science and early support for the Internet, as well as his long tenure as a professor at Yale Univ for nearly 40 years. He had just completed a lecture on science policy when he suffered a heart attack. Completing his lectures for the academic year is long-time friend and colleague and professor of science policy at the Univ of Ottawa, Dr John de la Mothe....