WLA/WHS Scholarly Series: Innovation, Disruption, Revolution: The Impact of Technological Advancement — William Boone Bonvillian

Where did the Internet, Stealth, GPS, and Covid mRNA vaccines come from? The Role of DARPA in Fostering Disruptive Technologies — William Bonvillian, MIT

In the 17th year of Wilton Library and Wilton Historical Society’s collaboration, the scholarly lecture series focuses on the theme of Innovation, Disruption, Revolution: The Impact of Technological Advancement. In this lecture, William Bonvillian, MIT lecturer and Wilton resident, discusses the U.S. government’s crucial role in the development of everything from the internet to COVID vaccines.

The government not only funds the research that leads to these technological advances, but also bridges the gap between scientific breakthroughs and their commercially successful applications. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is one of the most extraordinary engines over the past half-century for such activity. Later, “clones” in other government agencies beyond the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA’s home, also took on some of that responsibility. This session describes those breakthroughs and illuminates DARPA’s (and its clones’) role in bringing them about.

Bonvillian is a lecturer at MIT and a senior director at MIT’s Program for Open Learning. From 2006 until 2017, he was the director of MIT’s Washington office, supporting MIT’s long-standing role in science policy. He now teaches courses on science and technology policy at MIT and is the author of five books on innovation policy, including a 2020 book on DARPA. Previously, he worked for over 15 years on innovation issues as a senior advisor in the U.S. Senate, and earlier was a Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of Transportation. He has served on two National Academy of Science (NAS) Boards and nine other NAS committees and was named a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. He is a Wilton resident and Wilton High School graduate and earned degrees from Columbia, Yale and Columbia Law.

This series is sponsored by Laureen Mody and the moderator is Steve Hudspeth. A reception follows the talk and there is no charge to attend, but donations are welcome. Visit Wilton Library’s website for required registration and additional dates, topics, and speaker details or call 203.762.6334 to register.