THE AAAS SCIENTIFIC FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY AWARD

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Subject: AAAS Scientific Freedom & Responsibility Award
Author:  SCI-TECH (sci-tech-studies) {sci-tech-studies () kasey umkc edu} at
INTERNET
Date:    5.23.95 1:35 PM




     Please disseminate widely...


                            1996 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
               THE AAAS SCIENTIFIC FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY AWARD
                   honoring exemplary scientists and engineers...


     "Those scientists and engineers who act on behalf of scientific
     freedom and responsibility under difficult circumstances...should
     receive some appropriate recognition.  This is in part to honor them,
     but it also is to spread, among the scientific public in general,
     awareness of the importance of maintaining scientific freedom and
     responsibility" (John T. Edsall, professor emeritus of Harvard
     University and former chairman of the AAAS Committee on Scientific
     Freedom and Responsibility).


     The Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award is presented annually
     by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to honor
     scientists and engineers whose exemplary actions have served to foster
     scientific freedom and responsibility.


     The Award recognizes scientists and engineers who have:


        - acted to protect the public's health, safety, or welfare; or


        - focused public attention on important potential impacts of
          science and technology on society by their responsible
          participation in public policy debates; or


        - established important new precedents in carrying out the social
          responsibilities or in defending the professional freedom of
          scientists and engineers.


     This annual award was established in 1980 and consists of a plaque and
     $2500.  The 1996 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award will be
     presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, 8-13
     February 1996.  We hope that the presentation of this award will
     inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers as they begin
     their careers.


     DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS 1 AUGUST 1995.




     In recent years AAAS has honored...


     Vil Sultanovich Mirzayanov (1995) for his keen sense of social and
     scientific responsibility, exercised at great personal risk, in
     serving to protect health and safety by revealing secret and illegal
     development of dangerous chemical weapons in the Soviet Union.  After
     exposing the continuing manufacture of these weapons in violation of
     international agreements, Dr. Mirzayanov was fired and subsequently
     arrested and imprisoned.  His exceptional personal courage has served
     to promote the health and safety of people throughout the world.


     Mathilde Krim and June Osborn (1994) whose exemplary sense of social
     and scientific responsibility in the face of the AIDS epidemic have
     served to foster the public's health, safety, and welfare.  Long
     before such activities were fashionable, Drs. Krim and Osborn were
     outspoken in their promotion of research efforts to find treatments
     and a cure for AIDS, to stem the spread of HIV through prevention and
     education, to dispel the ignorance about the disease and fear of those
     who are infected, and to decry hatred directed against people with
     AIDS.


     Daniel L. Albritton and Robert T. Watson (1993) for leadership in
     organizing research on stratospheric ozone destruction and responsibly
     conveying this knowledge to the international negotiations designed to
     protect the Earth's vital ozone shield, thereby developing the
     foundation for international protocols for control of ozone-destroying
     chemicals.  Drs. Albritton and Watson worked together for fifteen
     years, using their scientific credentials and expertise to inform the
     political process in a socially responsible manner.


     Inez Austin (1992), a senior engineer at the Hanford Nuclear
     Reservation in Richland, Washington, for her courageous and persistent
     efforts to pre-empt potential safety hazards involving nuclear waste
     contamination at Hanford.  Ms. Austin's stand in the face of
     harassment and intimidation reflects the paramount professional duty
     of engineers -- to protect the public's health and safety -- and has
     served as an inspiration to her co-workers.


     We have also honored... Adrian Morrison for his extraordinary efforts
     to promote and defend the responsible use of animals in research
     despite the threats of bodily harm directed against him and his
     family; Francisco Ayala, Norman Newell, and Stanley Weinberg for
     alerting scientists to the threats creationism poses to academic
     freedom and science education, and providing leadership in mobilizing
     opposition among scientists and teachers to challenges the creationist
     movement poses to the integrity of science; Colegio Medico do Chile
     (Medical Association of Chile) for its professional and humanitarian
     efforts to stop the practice of torture in Chile; Anatoly Koryagin, a
     psychiatrist in the Soviet Union, for his courageous and responsible
     defense, at personal and professional cost, of the principle that
     medical knowledge and skills should under no circumstances be used for
     the purpose of suppressing political dissent.


     To submit a nomination...


     Send us your name, address, and phone number; and the name(s) and
     address(es) of the nominee.


        - A summary of the action(s) that form the basis for the nomination
          (about 250 words).


        - A longer statement (no more than three pages) providing
          additional details of the action(s) for which the candidate is
          nominated.


        - At least two letters of support, with addresses and phone
          numbers.


        - The candidate's vita (no more than three pages).


        - Any documentation (books, articles, or other materials) that
          illuminates the significance of the nominee's achievement may
          also be submitted.  All materials become property of AAAS.


     Please submit all information to:


        Office of Development
        American Association for the Advancement of Science
        1333 H Street, NW, Room 1146
        Washington, DC  20005
        (202)326-6636 (phone); (202)789-2009 (fax)