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Credit: (Image courtesy of Niles A. Jaeger)
In articles so rich in analogies, metaphors and evocative images that one editor likened them to poetry, Stuart F. Brown has helped make chemistry, biotechnology and other scientific topics understandable and exciting for millions of readers of Fortune magazine. In recognition of those achievements, the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, has selected Brown as winner of its 2007 James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.
The award was established in 1955 and consists of $3,000, a gold medallion and a bronze replica. Sometimes termed the “Pulitzer Prize of science writing,” Grady-Stack awards have gone to some great pioneers and brightest new talent in science writing.
“Few writers are as good as Brown at what might be called the poetry of objects,” Peter Petre, senior editor-at-large at Fortune, said. “In all of his stories, he combines passionate curiosity with the kind of diligence and precision that earn the respect and trust of the scientists and technologists he interviews.”
The award citation praises Brown’s work in describing, explaining and conveying the excitement of large-scale biotechnology manufacturing processes to a general audience.
“Mr. Brown has an amazing grasp of recent advances in molecular genetics, microbiology and biochemistry,” says Marie-Alda Gilles-Gonzalez, Ph.D., a biochemistry professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “Mr. Brown has a gift for communicating the importance and wonder of new technology in a language that is accurate, picturesque, entertaining and clear to a wide audience.”
Brown was with Fortune from December 1997 until August 2006, when he left to pursue a career in freelance writing in Irvington, N.Y. Brown previously worked for 12 years as a writer and editor for Popular Science, where he covered aviation, space, military hardware, manufacturing technology and transportation. He holds a BA degree from Bard College in New York state.
The Grady-Stack award is named after two former managers of the ACS News Service. It recognizes, encourages and stimulates outstanding reporting that promotes the public’s understanding of chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields. Brown will receive the award in March at the American Chemical Society’s National Meeting in Chicago.
The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.