History
SPUSA was founded in 1979 by UC San Diego student Jeffrey Leifer, with the fundamental belief that young people play a vital role in determining the socially responsible application of science and technology. In 1955 Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, and other eminent scientists issued a manifesto urging scientists to "think in a new way" about their moral responsibilities in the nuclear age. In 1957, the first Pugwash Conference was held in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, bringing together some of the greatest scientific minds to address nuclear weapons issues and the social responsibility of scientists. SPUSA strives to convene the next generation of scientists around today's parallel issues.
SPUSA is the US student affiliate of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, recipients of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, and the U.S.A. affiliate of the International Student/Young Pugwash.
A long-standing icon of the organization has been Albert Einstein, for his commitment to advancing both science and its peaceful use. Another icon is Professor Joseph Rotblat, who was the co-founder of Pugwash and the only scientist to leave the Manhattan Project, refusing to work further on the atomic bomb after the Nazis were defeated. In response to Rotblat's call for an ethical Hippocratic Oath for scientists, Student Pugwash created a student pledge, calling young scientists to make a personal commitment to use science and technology in a socially responsible way. In 1999, Student Pugwash initiated the Joseph Rotblat Lecture on Science and Social Responsibility in honor of Rotblat's pioneering life dedicated to the responsible use of science.
Following a decrease in revenue related to the late 2000s recession, the organization returned to its student-run founding with former student board members Sharlissa Moore and Kyle Gracey appointed President and Vice President, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Student Pugwash USA
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)