Washington, D.C. — 14 November, 2000 — The Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named recipients of four AAAS annual awards honoring scientists and engineers for outstanding achievements. The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco on 17 February, 2001.

Founded in 1848, AAAS is the world’s largest federation of scientists with more than 138,000 individual members. The Association publishes the weekly, peer-reviewed journal Science and administers EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org) the online news service featuring the latest discoveries in science and technology.

The recipients of the 2000 awards announced by the AAAS Board are as follows:

• AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize Dr. Leon M. Lederman Pritzker Professor of Science Illinois Institute of Technology

• AAAS Award for International Scientific Cooperation Dr. Kenneth Bridbord Director of the Division of International Training and Research John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences National Institutes of Health

• AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology Dr. Vaclav Smil Distinguished Professor of Geography University of Manitoba

• AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award Dr. Howard Schachman Professor of the Graduate School and Professor Emeritus, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology University of California, Berkeley

Descriptions of the awards and the recipients follow:

AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize is awarded annually to a public servant for exceptional contributions to advancing science, or to a scientist or engineer for a distinguished career of scientific achievement and service to the community.

Dr. Leon M. Lederman is being honored for his scientific scholarship, leadership and advocacy of international collaborations in science, and a strong commitment to the improvement of math and science education at the local, state and national levels. Most notable among Dr. Lederman’s scientific credentials is his Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded in 1988 for the discovery of the muon neutrino, which was crucial in establishing the doublet structure of lepton currents and the classification of fundamental particles into what is now known as “The Standard Model.” His discovery led to high-energy neutrino physics, which continues to dominate research at the major accelerators today. Dr. Lederman began his career as an associate in physics at Columbia University in 1952, became Professor of Physics in 1958 and was named director of the Nevis Laboratories in 1962. He left Columbia in 1979 to run the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois. During his decade as Director of Fermilab, he built the world’s first superconducting accelerator, enabling Fermilab to maintain its world leadership in high-energy physics. He also took time for civic pursuits, initiating 15 educational programs for children in grades K – 12 and teachers at all levels of instruction.

AAAS Award for International Scientific Cooperation is bestowed annually to recognize an individual or group of individuals in the scientific or engineering community who work together to make an outstanding contribution to furthering international cooperation in science and engineering.

Dr. Kenneth Bridbord has had a decisive impact in training researchers worldwide, supporting collaborative public health research between scientists in the U.S. and other countries, and expanding international research on AIDS. Since 1995, Dr. Bridbord has directed the Division of Training and Research at the John E. Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where much of his work in promoting AIDS training and research has taken place. From 1983 to 1995, he served as Chief of the International Studies Branch at NIH. Researchers around the world have benefited from his outstanding efforts to support and facilitate international public health research.

AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology is bestowed annually to recognize working scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the popularization of science.

Dr. Vaclav Smil is being honored because of his unique integration of information concerning energy, environment and hunger, in a manner that is accessible to the general public and policy makers who must address these difficult global issues. Dr. Smil has taught at the University of Manitoba since 1972. He has published 17 books and more than 200 papers in energy, environmental, Asian studies and general science periodicals. He has served as a consultant to numerous organizations, including the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, the Rockefeller Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Academy of Sciences, and the World Bank. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society (Science Academy).

2000 AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award is bestowed annually to honor scientists and engineers whose exemplary actions, often taken at significant personal cost, have served to foster scientific freedom and responsibility.

Dr. Howard Schachman has been at the forefront of efforts to eliminate research misconduct in federally funded research while ensuring that such efforts do not impinge on the freedoms that allow scientists to be creative in their pursuit of knowledge. Dr. Schachman has had a distinguished career as a biochemist and biophysicist. His pioneering work has added to the understanding of protein structure and function. In addition, for the past 50 years, he has assumed leadership roles in key struggles dealing with scientific freedom and responsibility. His forceful advocacy of stricter accountability for those receiving federal grants, combined with his strong sense of fairness, social responsibility, scientific achievement and humor led to his appointment as the first-ever ombudsman for extramural research for the National Institutes of Health, a role which he filled “brilliantly and tirelessly.”