New York Academy of Sciences
Encyclopedia
The New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

. It identifies and promotes scientific advances across disciplines and professional and geographic boundaries, and builds bridges and synergies between institutions and individuals. It helps to expand scientific knowledge by convening leading experts in meeting
Meeting
In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....

s, seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...

s, and interdisciplinary conferences
Academic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...

, and by disseminating information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...

 through both print and electronic media. The president and CEO is Ellis Rubinstein; the current chair of the board of governors of the Academy is John Sexton
John Sexton
John Edward Sexton is the fifteenth President of New York University, having held this position since May 17, 2002, and the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Dean of the NYU School of Law, which during his deanship became one...

, President of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

.

Programs

The Academy’s wide range of programs include its internationally acclaimed annual schedule of major interdisciplinary symposia on basic or applied frontier research fields; its robust publishing and dissemination initiatives; its efforts to improve science literacy
Scientific literacy
Scientific literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories.-Definition:...

; and its work in support of the human rights of scientists.

Since 2002, under the leadership of President Ellis Rubinstein, the Academy has undertaken new programs to better serve its constituencies by fostering the creation of mini-communities of common interest. These include the Frontiers of Science Program of interdisciplinary discussion groups at the cutting edge of emerging areas in biological sciences; the Science Alliance program, which encompasses 30 higher education institutions from throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia and offers career-oriented programming for graduate students and postdocs; and the Physical Sciences and Engineering program, which provides a novel and critical forum for the exchange of new ideas and data in emerging interdisciplinary areas. Areas of particular emphasis at the Academy in recent years include fields like systems biology, genome integrity, emerging infectious diseases, nanobiotechnology, cosmology, green science and sustainability, string theory, and quantitative finance, among others.

The Academy has an extensive publishing program, anchored by the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is an academic journal published by the New York Academy of Sciences. It is one of the oldest science journals, being founded in 1823....

, the oldest (since 1823) continuously published scientific series in the U.S. In recent years, the Academy also has developed an innovative and extensive series of electronic briefings, online multimedia postings that offer overviews of NYAS and partner events for worldwide scientific audiences.

The Academy’s most recent initiative is Scientists Without Borders, a collaborative program with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Millennium Project and other key partners. Launched on May 12, 2008, Scientists Without Borders is designed to establish a global network of scientists, institutions, academies, industry experts and funding agencies that will address health and other crucial needs of the developing world.

History

Founded in 1817, the New York Academy of Sciences (originally called the Lyceum of Natural History) has evolved from a notable institution in the greater New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 area to one of the most significant organizations in the international scientific community. Since its beginnings, Academy membership has included prominent leaders in the sciences, business, academia and government, including Presidents Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 and James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

, Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....

, Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

, Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...

, Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

, Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....

, and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

. In 2007, members included an unprecedented number of Nobel Laureates (23) on its advisory President’s Council alone) and other luminaries from all walks of life.

Academy accomplishments include many historic “firsts,” such as publication of the first studies on environmental pollution (1876); the first conference on antibiotics (1946); a groundbreaking gathering on the cardiovascular effects of smoking (1960); and the world’s first major conferences on AIDS (1983) and SARS (2003). The Academy also held landmark conferences on the special challenges facing women in science (1998); music and neuroscience (2000); and a conference in China on the Frontiers of Biomedical Science (2005). NYAS members also played prominent roles in the establishment of New York University (1831) and the American Museum of Natural History (1858).

In 2006, the Academy moved into a new home on the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center
7 World Trade Center
7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. It is the second building to bear that name and address in that location. The original structure was completed in 1987 and was destroyed in the September 11 attacks...

, one of the world’s most technologically advanced “green” buildings in New York. With state-of-the-art meeting facilities, the 40000 square feet (3,716.1 m²) space better meets the needs of the Academy’s growing membership and expanding programs.

Human rights award of Scientists

The Committee on the Human Rights of Scientists was created in 1978 to support and promote the human rights of scientists, health professionals, engineers, and educators around the world. The committee intervenes on behalf of colleagues in the sciences who have been detained, imprisoned, exiled, or deprived of the rights to pursue science, communicate their findings to their peers and the general public, and travel freely.

The full name is "Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award", it is given to scientists for their contributions to safeguard or advance the human rights of scientists all across the world. It was retitled in 1986
  • Kamiar and Arash Alaei
    Kamiar and Arash Alaei incident
    Dr. Kamiar Alaei and his brother Dr. Arash Alaei are two Iranian HIV/AIDS doctors who were detained in Tehran's Evin prison from June 2008 though Dec 2010 and August 2011, respectively...

     in 2009
  • Óscar Elías Biscet
    Oscar Elías Biscet
    Óscar Elías Biscet González , is a Cuban medical professional and a noted advocate for human rights and democratic freedoms in Cuba. He is also the founder of the Lawton Foundation....

     in 2008.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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