George Kivort
USA- Early Life and Education
- Los Alamos National Laboratory Career
- White House Science Advisor
- Post-White House Career
- Controversy and Departure from Hewlett-Packard
Early Life and Education
George Albert (Jay) Keyworth II was born on November 30, 1939, in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. Keyworth then became a research associate at Duke University and completed his Ph.D. in nuclear physics in 1968, with a pioneering study on isospin conservation in nuclear reactions.
Los Alamos National Laboratory Career
In 1968, Keyworth joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he worked in weapons development. He joined the Neutron Physics Group in 1968, became Assistant Group Leader in 1973, and Group Leader in 1974. Keyworth was appointed Division Leader of Alternate Energy and then Physics Division Leader in 1978, and concurrently served as Chief of the Laser Fusion Program from 1980-1981.
White House Science Advisor
In May 1981, Keyworth became Science Advisor to U.S. President Ronald Reagan and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. From 1981-1985, Keyworth chaired the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology and the Telecommunications Policy Committee of the National Security Council. He also served on Vice President George H.W. Bush's Task Force on Regulatory Relief (1982-1985) and the President's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness (1984-1985). It is believed that Keyworth, along with "father of the hydrogen bomb" Edward Teller, convinced Reagan to launch the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) missile defense program, also known as "Star Wars." Keyworth also advocated for using scientific and technological advances to further foreign policy objectives, such as rapprochement with the People's Republic of China.
Post-White House Career
Keyworth resigned in early 1986 and joined the board of directors of Hewlett-Packard that same year. He was Chairman of the Council on Superconductivity for American Competitiveness (1987-1992) and Chairman of the National Superconductivity Commission (1989-1990). Keyworth co-founded the Progress and Freedom Foundation in 1993 and became chairman of its board of directors. In 1995, he joined the board of General Atomics and became chairman of Bravo Labs in 1999.
Controversy and Departure from Hewlett-Packard
In May 2006, Keyworth was asked to resign from the Hewlett-Packard board of directors after an internal investigation implicated him in leaking confidential information about company board meetings to the press. Keyworth refused to step down and was subsequently removed from the slate of nominees for the next board election. Only after a public outcry over the questionable methods used in the internal investigation did Keyworth agree to leave the Hewlett-Packard board in September 2006.
