The Office of the Science & Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State (STAS) was created in 2000 by then Secretary of State Madeline Albright in response to a 1999 study by the U.S. National Research Council on how the Department could incorporate contributions that science, technology, and health expertise and activities can make in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy.
Building on over two decades of activities and through six Science and Technology Advisers to the Secretary of State, STAS remains a vibrant resource to Department leadership, senior Foreign Service and Civil Service officials, and bureaus and offices across the Department, providing a focal point for science and technology as fundamental to U.S. foreign policy. STAS also serves as a central bridge between the Department and the vast STI community in the United States and throughout the world.