John W. Marburger 3d | Bush science adviser, 70

John W. Marburger 3d, 70, the White House science adviser to President George W. Bush, died Thursday at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y., after four years of treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

A Democrat, Dr. Marburger was in charge of science policy during the entire eight years of the Republican administration, often dealing with issues about man-made global warming and claims of political interference in science. He was also the longest-serving presidential science adviser in U.S. history.

Dr. Marburger was the third president of Stony Brook University, serving for 14 years. Then he was director of the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

"Jack Marburger had a remarkable ability to defuse explosive situations and get people to collaborate for the greater good," said former Stony Brook University president Shirley Strum Kenny, who took over when Dr. Marburger went to run the Department of Energy's Brookhaven lab in 1994.

From 2001 to 2009 during his White House tenure, Dr. Marburger had more than his share of explosive situations to deal with, including the president's decision to restrict federal funding of stem-cell research and the climate-change controversy.

Dr. Marburger, a physicist, repeatedly said the White House did not deny the science behind climate change, but had a free-market philosophy that was not antiscience.

"Those of us who had the privilege to know him benefited greatly from his extensive knowledge, pragmatic thinking, and warm friendship, and we take comfort in knowing that his determination to explore new scientific frontiers and his enduring commitment to America's farsighted focus on science and technology will be continued by all those he inspired," John Holdren, the current White House science adviser, said in a statement.

- AP