While outlining a new science initiative this morning at the White House, the President named himself “Scientist-in-Chief.”
“I’m glad I’ve been promoted Scientist-in-Chief,” Obama said to laughter at the White House. “Given my grades in physics, I’m not sure it’s deserving. But I hold science in proper esteem, so maybe that gives me a little credit.”
Obama described his audience as “some of the smartest people in the country, some of the most imaginative and effective researchers in the country — some very smart people to talk about the challenge that I issued in my State of the Union address: to grow our economy, to create new jobs, to reignite a rising, thriving middle class by investing in one of our core strengths, and that’s American innovation.”
During his press conference, America’s first Scientist-in-Chief revealed the “next great American Project” called the BRAIN initiative:
“So there is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked, and the BRAIN Initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember. And that knowledge could be — will be — transformative.”