Weizmann Women & Science Award
Encyclopedia
The Weizmann Women & Science Award is a biennial award established in 1994 to honor an outstanding woman scientist in the United States who has made significant contributions to the scientific community. The objective of the award, which includes a $25,000 research grant to the recipient, is to promote women in science
, and to provide a strong role model to motivate and encourage the next generation of young women scientists.
The Award is given by the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS), founded in 1944 to develop philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The Weizmann Institute is a center of basic interdisciplinary scientific research and graduate study, addressing crucial problems in technology, medicine and health, energy, agriculture and the environment.
Women in science
Women have made contributions and sacrifices to science from the earliest times. Like many men in science, women have received little or no distinction for their work during their lifetimes. Science is generally and historically a male-dominated field, and evidence suggests that this is due to...
, and to provide a strong role model to motivate and encourage the next generation of young women scientists.
The Award is given by the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS), founded in 1944 to develop philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The Weizmann Institute is a center of basic interdisciplinary scientific research and graduate study, addressing crucial problems in technology, medicine and health, energy, agriculture and the environment.
Honorees
- 1994 Dr. Joan Argetsinger SteitzJoan A. SteitzJoan Argetsinger Steitz is a molecular biologist at Yale University, famed for her discoveries involving RNA, including ground-breaking insights such as that ribosomes interact with mRNA by complementary base pairing and that introns are spliced by snRNPs, small nuclear ribonucleoproteins which...
, a Henry Ford II Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. - 1996 Dr. Vera RubinVera RubinVera Rubin is an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She is famous for uncovering the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galactic rotation curves...
, Observational Astronomer, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution - 1998 Dr. Jacqueline K. BartonJacqueline BartonJacqueline K. Barton is an American chemist. She is the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology...
, Arthur and Marian Hanisch Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. - 2000 Dr. Carla J. ShatzCarla J. ShatzCarla J. Shatz, Ph.D., is an American neurobiologist and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine....
, Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor and Chair, Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School - 2000 Dr. Mildred DresselhausMildred DresselhausMildred S. Dresselhaus is an Institute Professor and Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Received the Millennial Lifetime Achievement Award - 2002 Dr. Susan SolomonSusan SolomonSusan Solomon is an atmospheric chemist working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Solomon was one of the first to propose chlorofluorocarbons as the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole.Solomon is a member of the U.S...
, Senior Scientist, Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 2004 Dr. May BerenbaumMay BerenbaumMay Roberta Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions between herbivorous insects and their host-plants, and the implications of these interactions on the organization of natural communities and the evolution of species.Berenbaum graduated summa cum...
, Swanlund Professor; Head, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 2006 Dr. Mary-Claire KingMary-Claire KingMary-Claire King is an American human geneticist. She is a professor at the University of Washington, where she studies the genetics and interaction of genetics and environmental influences on human conditions such as HIV, lupus, inherited deafness, and also breast and ovarian cancer...
, American Cancer Society Research Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle - 2008 - No award