Bruce Alberts Wins Vannevar Bush Award

 
Bruce M. Alberts is the winner of the 2010 Vannevar Bush Award for "lifetime contributions to the United States in science and technology" [Biochemist and science education advocate honored for distinguished service in science and technology].

Alberts is a prominent biochemist with a strong commitment to the improvement of science education, and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Science and as a United States science envoy. Alberts is also professor emeritus in the department of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, to which he returned in 2005 after serving two six-year terms as the president of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

During his tenure at the National Academies, Alberts was instrumental in developing landmark National Science Education Standards that have been implemented in school systems nationwide. "The type of science as inquiry teaching we need," said Alberts, "emphasizes logical, hands-on problem solving, and it insists on having evidence for claims that can be confirmed by others. It requires work in cooperative groups, where those with different types of talents can discover them--developing self-confidence and an ability to communicate effectively with others."

Alberts is also one of the original authors of The Molecular Biology of the Cell, a preeminent textbook now in its fifth edition. For the period 2000 to 2009, he served as the co-chair of the InterAcademy Council, a new organization in Amsterdam governed by the presidents of 15 national academies of sciences and established to provide scientific advice to the world.

That's Bruce seated front right in a photo from 2007 when he was here to receive an honorary degree. The citation for the Vannevar Bush Award doesn't mention that he was my thesis advisor—it's an unfortunate oversight.

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