A National Science Foundation Workshop

Partnerships

Building a New Foundation for Innovation

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Kent H. Hughes

Kent H. Hughes is currently a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. Established in 1968 as the living memorial for former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, the Center "serves as Washington's non-partisan meeting ground between the world of ideas and the world of public affairs." At the Center, Mr. Hughes is working on a book tracing the development of national competitiveness as an idea and a political force that is changing the direction of public policy.

Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Hughes served as the Associate Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce. At Commerce, he worked to define and implement a long-term competitiveness strategy emphasizing the close links among trade, technology and training. He also worked to create an ongoing dialogue with industry and was particularly active on problems challenging the aerospace and electronics industries. Beyond his regular assignments, he led a number overseas trade promotion missions, played a lead role in the Department's initiative on information technology workers and coordinated the Department's outreach to industry on Year 2000 Conversion.

Before joining the Clinton Administration, Mr. Hughes served as President of the Council on Competitiveness, an action-oriented leadership organization composed of chief executives from America's business, labor and academic communities. Under Mr. Hughes' leadership, the Council took the lead in putting technology policy on the national agenda.

Previously, Mr. Hughes held a number of senior positions with the US Congress, where he focused on international economic issues and the question of long-term American economic strength. Among other positions, Mr. Hughes has served as Chief Economist to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, Senior Economist of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and Legislative and Policy Director in the office of U.S. Senator Gary Hart during the Senator's first presidential campaign.

Prior to his Congressional service, Mr. Hughes served as a staff attorney for the Urban Law Institute, a poverty law firm established to provide counsel to national and local groups. He was also an International Legal Center Fellow and Latin American Teaching Fellow in Brazil where he worked on a reform of Brazilian legal education.

Mr. Hughes has spoken and written widely on a variety of economic topics including his 1979 book, Trade, Taxes, and Transnationals: International Economic Decision Making in the Congress.

Mr. Hughes holds a Ph.D. in economics from Washington University, an LL.B. from Harvard Law School and a B.A in political and economic institutions from Yale University.

He is a member of the D.C. Bar, American Bar Association and the American Economic Association.