Science for Humanity

 
Today's issue of The Toronto Star has an article on Andras Nagy, a colleague who works at one of the hospital research institutes here in Toronto. Apparently Nagy made a list of "Top 10 awards for work in science-related endeavours" in a magazine called Scientific Magazine [Scientist honoured for stem-cell coup].

I tried to find this magazine and the names of the other winners but nothing seemed to work. Google was not my friend today.

Later on, after lunch, I noticed a press release from "Scientific American." That magazine was naming "Ten researchers, politicians, business executives and philanthropists who have recently demonstrated outstanding commitment to assuring that the benefits of new technologies and knowledge will accrue to humanity" [Scientific American 10: Guiding Science for Humanity].

Sure enough, Andras Nagy was on that list. Here's the complete list. Congratulations to Genie Scott.

1. Todd Brady
   Corporate environmental manager
   Intel, Santa Clara, Calif.
   A chip company makes expansion of its environmental footprint a priority


2. Shai Agassi
   Founder and chief executive
   Better Place, Palo Alto, Calif.
   A wonderfully simple recharging scheme may ensure a future for electric vehicles


3. Wafaa El-Sadr
   Chief
   Infectious Disease Division, Harlem Hospital Center, New York City
   The physician leads a multipronged public health campaign to fight the scourge of HIV


4. Robert J. Lin­hardt
   Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering
   Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
   A chemical sleuth unravels the cause of deaths from a tainted drug


5. Eugenie Scott
   Executive director
   National Center for Science Education, Oakland, Calif.
   A champion for the teaching of evolution steps up her advocacy


6. Bill Gates/Michael Bloomberg
   Co-chair
   Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
   Mayor of New York City
   Celebrity heft propels a campaign to limit smoking


7. Bryan Willson
   Professor of mechanical engineering
   Colorado State University
   An engineer facilitates clean energy technology for the developing world


8. Kristian Olson
   Program Leader
   Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, Boston
   Simple, low-cost resuscitators and incubators can save newborns in the developing world


9. Andras Nagy
   Senior investigator
   Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
   A biologist discovers a practical method of making stem cells from mature cells


10. Barack Obama
    President of the U.S.
    The new chief executive begins his term by initiating a radical shift in science policy

It would be fun to see the top ten scientists—men and women who have contributed the most to our understanding of the natural world.

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