News Release

AAAS honors individuals for achievements in science

Grant and Award Announcement

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

BOSTON, MASS. - The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) honors scientists and engineers for their achievements at an awards ceremony at the 2002 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston on Saturday, 16 February from 12:15pm-1:15 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Boston Hotel.

The following is a list of the awardees:
AAAS Lifetime Achievement Award
Mr. William T. Golden

AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug

AAAS Award for International Scientific Cooperation
Dr. Guenther Bauer

AAAS Mentor Award
Dr. Leticia Marquez-Magana

AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer and Dr. J.H.M. Henderson

AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology
Dr. Ian Stewart

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Magazine Category
Heather Pringle
Discover (April 2001)

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Newspaper Category
Richard Monastersky
The Chronicle of Higher Education (8 September 2000, 30 March 2001, 20 April 2001)

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Newspaper Category
Scott Shane
Baltimore Sun (22 - 24 October 2000)

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Online Category
David J. Tenenbaum, Sue Medaris, Terry Devitt, Darrell Schulte and Amy Toburen
The Why Files (5 October 2000)

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Radio Category
Christopher Joyce
National Public Radio (20 July 2000, 29 January 2001, 4 June 2001)

AAAS Science Journalism Award: Television Category
Betsey Arledge, Julia Cort, and Robert Krulwich
WGBH/NOVA (17 April 2001)

Listed below is a description of the awards and biographical information on the recipients:

The AAAS Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to a scientist who has devoted a lifetime of leadership, counsel and support to the advancement of science. The individual chosen for this award has demonstrated the highest standards of professional excellence throughout his or her career and is an inspiration to others.

William T. Golden has dedicated his career to advancing science, science policy, and science education. Intent on integrating more science and technology into the making of foreign policy, he funded a 1999 study with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and urged the recommendation of an appointment of a science and technology advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State. He is most recognized for his work under the Truman Administration, when he established the post of Science Advisor to the President, and the related Office of Science and Technology in the Executive Office of the President. Golden was also involved with the protection of the Black Rock Forest, a 3,700-acre preserve in Cornwall, NY, that he bought in 1989 from Harvard University. Mr. Golden has received the NAS Welfare Medal in 1996, NSF's Distinguished Public Service Award in 1982, and the Benjamin Franklin Award for Distinguished Public Service in American Philosophical Society in 1995.

The AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize honors either a public servant for making sustained, exceptional contributions to help advance science, or a scientist whose career has been distinguished both for scientific achievement and for other notable services to the scientific community.

Norman E. Borlaug dedicated himself to saving the lives of millions of people across the globe. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in reversing food shortages in India and Pakistan. Even today, Dr. Borlaug works with developing countries, teaching the techniques of high-yield agronomy. His achievements have earned him credit for the "Green Revolution." Borlaug serves as a Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A & M University, where he teaches one semester a year, and has received more than 46 honorary doctoral degrees from institutions in the United States and abroad.

The Award for International Scientific Cooperation honors an individual or a small group in the scientific or engineering community for their outstanding contributions to furthering international cooperation in science or engineering.

Guenther Bauer has organized numerous scientific collaborations with scientists worldwide. His achievements in the physics of semiconductors demonstrate how much today's progress in science owes to the internationalization of research. Bauer actively initiated and participated in multinational and bilateral scientific projects supported by the Austrian government and organizations, European Union agencies, and the National Science Foundation, among others. In addition, he has promoted equal opportunity for women in physics and organized the International Women in Physics Program in Linz.

The AAAS Mentor Award honors individuals who, during a period of up to ten years demonstrate extraordinary leadership in increasing the participation of underrepresented students in science and engineering (women of all racial/ethnic groups; African American, American Indian, and Hispanic men; and/or people with disabilities).

Leticia Marquez-Magana serves her community by mentoring students of color in the field of science. Marquez-Magana is being honored for two programs she founded in California. At Berkeley, she initiated Scientists of Color, a graduate student organization aimed at creating minority social support and a professional network on campus and, at Stanford, she organized the Stanford Multicultural Scientists, spearheading the development of a minority undergraduate summer research program. In 1997, Hispanic Business magazine named her one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the country, in recognition of her research and for efforts to recruit and train promising minority students. In 1996, she received a $500,000 NSF CAREER Award for her genetic and molecular research on motility in bacteria.

The AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement honors individuals who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students in science and engineering (women of all racial/ethnic groups; African American, American Indian, and Hispanic men; and/or people with disabilities) and/or has affected the climate of a department, college, or institution in such a manner as to significantly increase the diversity of students pursuing and completing doctoral studies.

Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer was instrumental in developing one of the most productive science programs at a liberal arts college in the United States and increasing the number of women and minorities entering scientific careers. Wherever she worked during her illustrious career as an educator, Falconer initiated programs and processes aimed at raising the number of underrepresented populations in the study of mathematics and science. A Summer Science Program for pre-freshmen, the college's annual Science Day, and the NASA Women in Science and Engineering Program are among her many efforts that improved the success rate of science majors. She is the first secretary of the National Association of Mathematics, and, among other honors, the recipient of the Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education from the Association of Women in Mathematics.

Dr. James H. M. Henderson has served generations of students as a role model and mentor at Tuskegee University, a historically black institution of higher learning. An exceptional academician, Henderson has devoted his entire career to research and teaching students at the pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate levels in the biological and agricultural sciences. His summer program aimed at high school students, ENHANCES, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has seen over 40 students pursue a college education. Henderson has served as Commissioner of the Commission on Undergraduate Biological Sciences, and is the former Director of the George Washington Carver Foundation.

The AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology encourages and acknowledges talented scientists and engineers who popularize their work; recognizes and supports scientists and engineers who promote their research in a responsible manner; and emphasizes that the scientific community regards communicating to the public as a valuable and prestigious activity.

Ian N. Stewart has become known for his popular science writing on mathematical themes and for furthering the public understanding of science. His book Nature's Numbers was short-listed for the 1996 Rhone-Poulenc Prize for Science Books. He delivered the 1997 Royal Institution Christmas lectures on BBC television and repeated them in Japan for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Dr. Stewart was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. In addition, he has contributed to a wide range of newspapers and magazines in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, including New Scientist, Scientific American, and Discover. He is currently Professor of Mathematics at Warwick University and Director of the Mathematics Awareness Centre.

Since the inception of the Science Journalism Awards program in 1945, more than 300 individuals have been honored for their significant achievements in the field of science reporting. The Whitaker Foundation, which supports research and training in biomedical engineering, has sponsored the AAAS Science Journalism Awards since 1995. The 2001 award winners were selected by independent screening and judging committees comprised of scientists and science journalists based on their scientific accuracy, initiative, originality, clarity, and value in fostering a better public understanding of science.

Heather Pringle studied history and Victorian literature, then worked as a research assistant at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, delving into the history of turn-of-the-century Alberta ranches founded by English aristocrats and royals. Moving to British Columbia in 1980, Pringle embarked on a career in magazine journalism, exploring subjects as diverse as the return of the Sun dance in the Canadian west to the travails of dinosaur hunters in Mongolia. As a science writer, Pringle gravitates to stories about archaeology, anthropology and history. Writing for magazines such as Science, Discover, and New Scientist, she has won numerous awards, including a National Magazine Award.

Richard Monastersky is a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C., where he writes and edits science stories. Prior to that, he served as earth science editor at Science News Magazine. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate in physics from Wesleyan University, he has reported science feature stories on all 7 continents for National Geographic Magazine, Scientific American, New Scientist and Discover, and won the American Society for Microbiology's Public Communications Award.

Scott Shane has worked for The Baltimore Sun since 1983, covering courts, medicine, urban problems and intelligence and serving as Moscow correspondent from 1988 to 1991. Shane, who grew up in Washington, DC, graduated from Williams College and Oxford University, and studied Russian at Leningrad State University. In October 2000 The Baltimore Sun published his award winning, three-part series on a Johns Hopkins University public health research project in Nepal seeking a prenatal vitamin to reduce infant mortality in the Third World. Currently he is helping cover the aftermath of September 11 and the anthrax attacks.

As Director of Research Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Terry Devitt reports on the basic and applied sciences. He is a co-founder, project coordinator and editor of The Why Files, a popular and critically-successful website about science and technology published on the World Wide Web (whyfiles.org) under the auspices of the UW-Madison Graduate School. Devitt is also an active freelance science writer and has contributed stories to Astronomy, Orion, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, the Milwaukee Journal and the children's science magazine Muse.

Since September 1999, Susan Medaris has designed and illustrated The Why Files (www.whyfiles.org) website. She also works as a freelance illustrator, creating illustrations for the American Heart Association, Henry Vilas Zoo, the Nature Conservancy, and Ginkgo Press. Medaris is currently working on a series of paintings for a one-woman art show.

Darrell Schulte has worked with the Internet for more than seven years. After graduating from St. John's University in Collegeville, MN in 1994, he began his career providing Internet support for Internet for Minnesota Schools (InforMNs). The InforMNs project was originally created to promote the connection of all Minnesota schools to the Internet. While working on the InforMNs project, Schulte gained invaluable experience with an array of online education-based projects which enabled him to join The Why Files (www.whyfiles.org) and assume the position of webmaster.

David Tenenbaum is the staff writer at The Why Files (www.whyfiles.org) and a freelance writer covering science, health and environment for ABCnews.com, Astronomy, BioScience, Environmental Health Perspectives, and American Health. He previously has worked as a farmer, mason, barn-wrecker, and leather-and-canvas bag maker and wrote the Complete Idiot's Guide to Trouble-Free Home Repair.

As the associate director of communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Amy Toburen supervises staff specializing in a range of fully integrated communications activities that include media relations, broadcast services, public affairs, periodicals and other print publications, online communication, marketing and special events. In 1996, Toburen helped create the concept, staff and implementation of The Why Files (www.whyfiles.org) and continues to serve as a creative advisor to its team and a member of its management staff.

Christopher Joyce started working as a journalist in the mid-1970s covering politics and government in Washington D.C. The British weekly magazine, New Scientist, hired him as the first United States correspondent and then later, as editor. In 1992, he accepted a job as a part-time editor for National Public Radio's science desk. With coaching from the science writing team, he advanced to full-time editor and correspondent there.

For more than 20 years, Elizabeth Arledge has produced, written and directed documentaries. She began her career at WCVB-TV in Boston where she worked as a founding producer of the award- winning longtime series CHRONICLE. Arledge joined WGBH/Boston in 1982, producing a series of award-winning documentaries. In 1983, she moved to national production for FRONTLINE, where she produced, wrote, and directed 10 programs and was nominated for a national Emmy for "The Death of Nancy Cruzan." "Cracking the Code of Life", which she produced, wrote, and directed, has also been selected to receive the National Association of Science Writers Award. She is currently at work developing a six part series for NOVA on Children's Hospital in Boston.

Julia Cort began making films over 20 years ago as a student at Harvard. Her thesis film, "A Fine Romance," an examination of her parents' complicated marriage, won the New England Film and Video Festival Student Film Award. During the 1980s, she spent several years in New York and Los Angeles, working on more than twenty feature films and television productions, including "Imagine: John Lennon," "Tales from the Darkside," and "Dirty Dancing." After returning to Boston, Cort joined the WGBH Science Unit, which produces NOVA. Hired in 1991 as an associate producer, she became a staff producer/writer six years ago. "Cracking the Code of Life," which has also received the 2001 National Association of Science Writers Award, is one of seventeen NOVA programs Cort has worked on. Her most recent project at NOVA is "Life's Greatest Miracle," a new HDTV look inside-the-body at human reproduction.

Robert Krulwich covers economics, technology, and science as a special correspondent for ABC News. Shortly after graduating from Columbia Law School in 1974, Krulwich chose journalism over law when he accepted a job as Washington bureau chief for Pacifica Radio. From there, he went on to work for National Public Radio, where he explained interest rates by writing and broadcasting an opera called "Rato Interesso." Now at ABC News, he appears regularly on Nightline and hosted the network's 1999 primetime summer series, Brave New World. His work on the PBS-TV series, Frontline, has won him Emmy, George Polk and DuPont awards for programs on subjects from campaign finance reform to the internet. He is being recognized for his collaboration with WGBH/NOVA on the award-winning program "Cracking the Code of Life".

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science. Founded in 1848, AAAS serves 134,000 members as well as 273 affiliates, representing 10 million scientists.

For more information on the AAAS, see the web site, www.aaas.org. Additional news from the AAAS Annual Meeting may be found online at www.eurekalert.org.

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