Kent Kresa, the interim chairman of General Motors during its bankruptcy until giving up the position last week, has pledged $2 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to endow the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professorship in Engineering and Applied Science.
Kresa also happens to be the chairman of the Caltech Board of Trustees. The Kresa endowed chair will support and recognize a faculty member in engineering and applied science, with a preference for faculty in aeronautics and aerospace engineering.
Kresa, who was CEO of aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman for 13 years, made a gift that is poignant and timely.
As NASA this month celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 manned mission to the moon, the space program – and science in general – seems to have lost some of its luster in the eyes of many Americans.
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, only 27 percent of Americans think scientific advancement is one of the country’s most important achievements, compared with 47 percent in May 1999.
While the public holds science in high regard, believing overwhelmingly in its positive influence, there is broad disagreement between how Americans in general and scientists view the world.
When it comes to contemporary scientific issues, 87 percent of scientists say that organisms evolved over time and that evolution is the result of natural processes, versus just 32 percent of the public.
While 84 percent of scientists say the earth is getting warmer because of human activity such as burning fossil fuels, just 49 percent of the public agrees.