James H. Donovan began his public career as a chairman of the Committee on Roads and Public Works. He went on to serve as a chairman of the Committee of Mental Hygiene and Addiction Control, and later, the chairman of the Select Committee on Mentally and Physically Handicapped. He became truly famous, however, when he was named chairman of the US Senate Education Committee in 1977, a position which he held for the remaining 14 years of his life.
As chairman of this committee he moved to incorporate lessons in technology and its use as part of a regular school education. He recognized that technology was becoming more and more popular in offices and other work places, and saw that it was necessary for the new generation to be trained in order to be efficient at their future jobs