Seventy-five years ago this week, Congress created the National Science Foundation based on a radical premise: that sustained public investment in basic research is a strategic bet on the nation's prosperity and security.
That bet paid off.
NSF support has shaped every corner of modern science and engineering, launched entire disciplines-including the foundations of operations research and analytics-and helped 268 Nobel laureates turn curiosity into transformational impact.
But anniversaries aren't just moments for reflection-they're checkpoints.
NSF-backed work has been a hallmark of our community and has contributed to both academic milestones and national assets. Indeed, when the United States leads in discovery, it leads in economic competitiveness and global security.
As we all know, even while we mark NSF's 75th anniversary we find ourselves at a moment of profound change as the federal government institutes policies that change the nature of public investment in science and research and Congress considers budget proposals that could cement such changes into place.
These aren't abstract policy debates. While Congress should ask hard questions about how federal agencies perform their missions and expend taxpayer dollars, these particular policy and budget changes threaten to fracture the discovery-to-deployment chain that underpins American innovation, in-turn stalling doctoral training pipelines, jeopardizing careers, and leaving a vacuum in U.S. global leadership that others are eager to fill.
Our fields-deeply mathematical, computationally intensive, and grounded in evidence-rely disproportionately on NSF. To be sure, this isn't someone else's problem. It's ours.
This anniversary isn't just a moment to reflect on NSF's past-it's a call to speak out about its future.
For INFORMS members, that means finding ways to make your work visible. The tools we build, the research we lead, the impact we deliver-these aren't abstractions. They affect lives, communities, and decisions made every day in Washington and across the country.
Now is the time to talk about that impact. Whether in a letter to your member of Congress, a short op-ed in your local paper, a post on LinkedIn or Twitter, or a quiet conversation with your institution's government relations office-every story helps. Every voice adds weight. And every example makes it harder for policymakers to dismiss the role of science in solving the nation's most complex challenges.
You don't need to script it perfectly. Just explain what your work does, why it matters, and how support from NSF helped make it possible.
In this moment of uncertainty, presence matters. And in a field built on precision and insight, the power of showing up-and speaking up-can't be overstated.
The NSF's 75th anniversary shouldn't mark the peak of American science-it should mark a turning point. One where INFORMS members, and others across the science and engineering communities, promote the engine of discovery and innovation and the critical role that the U.S. government must play to ensure the next 75 years is even brighter than the last 75.
Jeff Cohen, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, INFORMS
Tinglong Dai, Vice President, Marketing, Communications & Outreach, INFORMS
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Tinglong Dai
VP - MCO, INFORMS
Bernard T. Ferrari Professor
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore MD
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