World’s Largest Scientific Society Honors Sen. Alexander, Rep. Gordon, Energy Chief Bodman
WASHINGTON, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Chemical Society (ACS) has presented its 2008 Public Service Awards to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman for their efforts to improve America’s competitiveness in education and science. The ACS is the world’s largest scientific society, with a membership of 160,000 individual chemists, chemical engineers and related scientists.
“In the past three years, there has been a growing recognition that our U.S. economic security is based on basic research, science education, and other innovation policies, which culminated in last year’s bipartisan passage of the America COMPETES Act,” said ACS President Bruce E. Bursten, Ph.D. “I am excited to be awarding the 2008 Public Service Awards to three national leaders who have, and continue to, play crucial roles building the bipartisan consensus to advance the innovation agenda. Through their years in public service, all three of tonight’s honorees have shown vision and courage and we are here to thank them for their efforts.”
The three leaders were recognized for the following: — Sen. Alexander, the Senior Senator from Tennessee, who is also a former governor, U.S. Secretary of Education and president of the University of Tennessee, has been a central figure in creating a national agenda to enhance U.S. innovation and competitiveness. In 2005, he helped turn an inquiry about the federal government’s role in ensuring the pre-eminence of U.S. science and technology into a national agenda. Through his continuing efforts he helped bring together bipartisan consensus, at a time when it was in short supply. — Rep. Gordon, chair of the House Science and Technology Committee and dean of the Tennessee congressional delegation, has worked tirelessly to advance innovation legislation in the House. He helped spark the national debate, introduced the first innovation and competitiveness bill in the House in 2006 and led the final congressional negotiations in the conference to make the America COMPETES Act a reality. This year, Chairman Gordon is leading the congressional effort to address the under funding of the COMPETES programs in the 2008 final appropriations. — Secretary Bodman, a chemical engineer by training, with three decades of experience in the private sector, has been particularly well suited to helping guide the development of government policy related to science and technology, and establishing a broad agenda for the nation’s energy future. He became Secretary of Energy in 2005 after serving as the deputy in two other cabinet agencies, the CEO of a Fortune-300 company and as a venture capitalist. His influence and experience have been critical to increasing DOE’s focus and resources on research and development at the agency and particularly at the Office of Science.
The awards were presented in a ceremony April 30 in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The presentation was in conjunction with the Council on Undergraduate Research’s annual “2008 Posters on the Hill” event. The posters represent a sampling of the latest, cutting-edge research from undergraduates in science, mathematics and the humanities.
The American Chemical 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.
American Chemical Society
CONTACT: Charmayne Marsh of the American Chemical Society,+1-202-872-4400, c_marsh@acs.org