I worried my science wasn’t making an impact. So I ran for elected office

From ScienceMag:

“Have you considered running for elected office?” My friend’s question didn’t come out of nowhere. I was active in my community as a volunteer, especially in environmental and social justice causes, and I regularly met elected officials and advocated for issues I cared about. But the question still took me by surprise. As a tenured professor and dean, my academic identity was firmly established. Was politics even something that academics did?

By the usual measures, I was successful. I had good funding, a solid publication record, and I had been promoted to serve as dean of engineering at the liberal arts college where I work in New York state. I enjoyed my leadership role and my research. But I did have reason to think about moving in another direction.

My most cited paper was a nice article with some juicy math—3D vector calculus in non-Cartesian coordinates!—but the work had little relevance to everyday issues. That always bothered me.

So did academics’ reluctance to speak out about policy. I had noticed that even when scientific papers did have findings worth sharing with the public or government officials, they tended to bury phrases like “We recommend that policymakers do X” near the end. There was an unstated assumption that a scientist’s role is to inform policy, not help enact it. That stuff was done by other people.

And as a researcher who’s had his share of scientific disagreements with other researchers, I have been able to work with others whose viewpoints differ from mine—an approach that is needed in these times of intense political polarization.

• Ashok Ramasubramanian
• Templeton Institute at Union College

When I turned 50, I also started to ask myself uncomfortable questions about my own future, such as, “What can I do with the time that is left to me?” I wondered whether I would have regrets if I did not serve my community more directly. After fulfilling my dean duties, I only had so much time left in the day. I realized I could not be an active researcher and engage in public service. To make it work, I would have to give up research.

I had just completed work on a major federal grant. So, I began to think the time might be right to consider running for a town council position. When the idea was only a nascent possibility, I broached it with my boss, our college’s vice president of academic affairs, and was pleased to discover that she was supportive. Our institution encourages community service and outside-the-box thinking, and administrators are generally happy for faculty to branch out. The idea is to help model lifelong learning—a value we work to instill in our students.

After much thought, I decided to take the leap. I closed down my lab space and liquidated all my research assets, turning them over to more junior faculty members, and began to spend my nondean hours going door to door and talking with voters.

It was a new world, and I had to learn a lot of new things quickly. My experience dabbling in research fields outside my own was helpful as I tackled activities that were new to me like fundraising, campaign finance reporting, and social media outreach. But I also leaned heavily into my favorite philosophy: “Fake it till you make it.”

I was pleased to find that voters in my community appreciated my candidacy. Being a scientist and an academic helped me stand out as a unique and qualified individual. And after I won my election and was appointed to the town council in January, I have tried to use skills I gained as a scientist to help my community. For instance, my experience writing research proposals is helpful when applying for grants aimed at infrastructure maintenance and green space preservation. And as a researcher who’s had his share of scientific disagreements with other researchers, I have been able to work with others whose viewpoints differ from mine—an approach that is needed in these times of intense political polarization. The time commitment has also been manageable, as council meetings are held in the evenings after normal work hours.

I miss many aspects of research, especially spending quiet time in my lab and mentoring students. But the experiences of running for office and serving the public as an elected official have been equally rewarding and fulfilling. I am not sure what my political future holds, but for now I am having quite a bit of fun serving my community in an official capacity. I encourage other scientists to ask hard questions about new ways to put their skills to work, especially in the second half of life.

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