Hynek Proposes Science Aide as Cabinet Member

Dr. J. Allen Hynek said tonight that a new cabinet post of secretary of science should be created because "the Russian rate of advance is faster than ours in most fields of science."

Hynek, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's satellite-tracking program, suggested that the post be filled by someone with the stature of Dr. Vannevar Bush.

The man who fills the position, Hynek said, would serve as a liaison between science and the government.

He would not, Hynek emphasized, "be a czar or a dictator of science, but someone to advise the president and through whom scientists could be heard."

"Through such a man, scientific information could be more intelligently transmitted than has sometimes been the case," Hynek said.

"Our present system," he continued, "has some very bad pitfalls and a secretary of science is one means of seeking a solution to the problem."

When asked by a newsman to comment on "the apparent division of effort in missile and satellite programs," Hynek said:

"I would think a science secretary would function to clarify the situation to the extent that he would be a spokesman or interpreter. That's what's needed."