Former ASCB President Bruce Alberts Receives the National Medal of Science

Bruce Alberts, professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who served as ASCB president in 2007, was just named one of the nation’s top scientists by President Obama. Alberts and nine others are recipients of the National Medal of Science, the Nation’s highest honor for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. Alberts will be presented the medal in a ceremony at the White House later this year.

Alberts is renowned for discovering mechanisms of DNA replication prior to cell division. Beyond the bench Alberts is a champion for education. In 1987, he co-founded a partnership between UCSF and the San Francisco Unified School District to promote science education for K-12 students. In honor of his dedication to education ASCB started the “Bruce Alberts Award for Science Education” long before he became ASCB president. Alberts is also known for his public advocacy for science. In 2010, Alberts was one of the first three scientists in a new Science Envoy program announced by President Obama to be a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world.” Despite his achievements, Alberts maintains in an iBiology talk that it was his failures that helped him succeed.

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Christina Szalinski is a science writer with a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Pittsburgh.