Former NSF Director Warns Of Fragile Future For American Science

Forbes

3 days ago

Dr. France Córdova has held some of the most consequential positions in American science. An astrophysicist with a career spanning four decades, she has served as NASA's Chief Scientist, president of Purdue University, Chancellor of the University of California Riverside, and most recently, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) — the top federal funder of non-biomedical basic research in the U.S. Today, she leads the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a nonprofit devoted to growing private support for basic science.
That role has placed her at the crossroads of two major forces shaping American research: a federal government increasingly unable or unwilling to fund long-term scientific discovery, and a rising movement in private philanthropy aimed at strengthening the scientific enterprise — even as the long-term sustainability of public funding remains in question.
'All of science is underfunded,' Córdova said in a recent conversation. 'And now we really mean it' — a wry acknowledgment that while greater investment has long been in the nation's economic interest, the situation has deteriorated to the point where even a historically inadequate budget would now be considered a win.
The Science Philanthropy Alliance was established in 2013 by a group of major foundations concerned that years of flat federal budgets had put American science at risk. When Córdova completed her term at NSF in 2020, she joined the Alliance first as an advisor, and soon after as president. Under her leadership, the organization has grown to include around 40 philanthropic partners and played an advisory role in shaping transformative gifts — including a recent major endowment by the Leinweber Foundation to support theoretical physics.
The need for such work, Córdova argues, has never been more urgent.
'Today, a flat budget would be a great budget,' she said. 'Things are going south.'
Córdova is blunt about the risks. The scientific enterprise that helped make the U.S. a global leader after World War II — one built on public investment, open collaboration, and an ethos of discovery — is under pressure from political polarization, disinvestment and short-term thinking. And while philanthropy plays an increasingly important role, she warns that it is no substitute for government support.
'There's this idea that philanthropy and industry can step in to fill the gap,' she said. 'But the numbers just don't add up. Even if every dollar of philanthropy for science went into replacing public funding — which it won't — it still wouldn't be enough.'
This is not just a budgetary concern. The stakes, as she sees them, are existential. Scientific leadership is not a luxury but a national imperative — essential to economic prosperity, public health, national security and cultural vitality. In short, it is part of the scaffolding of a functioning democracy.
'We've come so far,' she said, reflecting on the country's founding ideals and the postwar scientific renaissance that followed. 'It's kind of hard to believe that it could be that fragile, that we could just take it apart by disinvestment.'
Córdova also emphasizes that science holds value far beyond its economic utility. It inspires. It deepens our understanding of ourselves, of our home planet and its many worlds—from deep sea to rainforest to mountaintop — and of our place in the universe. For those who are curious, science offers a way of seeing — a path that leads from wonder through thought to discovery. For Córdova, that path began with a moment of astonishment: watching a television program about neutron stars as a young woman, she was struck by the immensity of the cosmos and felt the pull of a question that would guide her for a lifetime — how does the universe work? 'On a cold, dark night,' she said, 'there's nothing that's more wonderful than going outside and just wondering: what's that up there?'
She worries that by reducing science to its instrumental benefits, we risk losing sight of what draws people into it in the first place — and what sustains it through times of uncertainty.
Córdova remains optimistic about the potential for philanthropy to play a visionary role. The Alliance, she explains, does not direct funding but helps donors identify their passions and connect with institutions equipped to realize their vision. It's a long game — built on trust, shared purpose and a belief in the transformative power of knowledge.
But without renewed public investment, she warns, even the best-coordinated philanthropic efforts will be insufficient.
'We are global leaders [in science],' she said. 'We should be proud of that. But we didn't get here by accident. It has taken nearly a century of effort — and it can be undone much faster than we think.'
As the U.S. confronts challenges ranging from pandemic preparedness to climate change, that warning should not go unheeded.