NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Last evening, the
New York Academy of Sciences brought together more than 400 global
leaders in science, education, government, industry, and academia,
as well as a host of special guests—including middle school
students, science teachers, and graduate student mentors—at its
Science & the City 9th Annual Gala. The theme of the Gala,
which took place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, was "Strengthening the STEM
Pipeline: Mentoring the Innovators of Tomorrow."
A robust STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
pipeline that nurtures future scientists and engineers from "cradle
to career" is vital to the nation's economy, as well as to the
future job prospects of current students. The Academy has committed
to strengthening the STEM pipeline through a series of
ground-breaking initiatives that provide much-needed interventions
at critical drop-out points along the STEM pipeline.
"The Academy's STEM-related programs focus on repairing the
cracks and bolstering the weak areas in the existing STEM
pipeline—from inspiring a first love of STEM subjects in school-age
children, to providing opportunities for established scientists to
network with peers across fields and organizations. These efforts
are vital to creating the next generation of capable scientists who
will be able to positively contribute to tackling the world's most
pressing problems," said Academy President and CEO Ellis Rubinstein.
A special series of films was premiered, highlighting the
Academy's programming in the areas of K-12 education, higher
education, professional community building, and international
collaboration ("science beyond the city").
On hand to introduce each programmatic area and provide remarks
about the Academy's contributions and partnerships in these areas
were the following distinguished guests:
- Nancy L. Zimpher,
Chancellor, The State University of New
York; Board Chair, The New York Academy of Sciences;
- Dennis M. Walcott,
Chancellor, New York City Department of Education;
- Barbara
Murphy-Warrington, CEO, Girl Scouts of Greater New York;
- Alice Gast, President,
Lehigh University; Governor, The New
York Academy of Sciences;
- Paul Stoffels, Chief
Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson; Member, Johnson &
Johnson Executive Committee; Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals,
Johnson & Johnson; Governor, The New York Academy of
Sciences;
- Laurie H. Glimcher,
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean,
Weill Cornell Medical College Provost of Medical Affairs,
Cornell University;
- John Sexton, President,
New York University; Governor, The New
York Academy of Sciences; and
- Dato' Sri Dr. Zakri Abdul
Hamid, Science Advisor, Prime Minister's Office,
Malaysia, and Professor
Emeritus.
K-12 Education
The Academy's Afterschool STEM
Mentoring Program in New York City
and Newark, NJ, trains and places
young scientists (who need critical teaching experience) in
low-income middle schools (where the majority of students receive
little to no hands-on STEM education). The mentors inspire the
middle school students to take an interest, and gain confidence, in
STEM subjects through engaging, hands-on activities that take place
in community-based afterschool programs.
The Academy and the State University of New
York (SUNY) recently received a
prestigious $2.95 million grant from the National Science
Foundation that will allow them to scale the Afterschool STEM
Mentoring Program throughout New York
State. The Academy is also working with the Girl Scouts of
the USA to scale the program to
hundreds of Girl Scouts Councils nationwide, for which the Girl
Scouts of Greater New York is
currently serving as a pilot site.
The Academy also supports science teachers through
its Pathways to Science programming, which connects teachers,
provides helpful resources for teaching STEM subjects, and holds
events on timely education-related topics.
Higher Education
The Academy, the U.S. State
Department (represented at the Gala by the Deputy Science and
Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Frances Colon), and a consortium of 39 U.S.
women's colleges are collaborating to empower women from countries
with predominantly Muslim populations to pursue STEM fields at the
undergraduate level through the NeXXt Scholars Initiative, which
was launched in December 2011 by U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton via video address. The international scholars
have been matched with American "STEM-sisters" at their respective
colleges; all women receive mentorship from a STEM professional,
Academy memberships, and ongoing program support.
The Academy's Science Alliance, a consortium of
universities, teaching hospitals, independent research facilities,
and organizations, connects more than 8,000 graduate and
postdoctoral students to the Academy community. The Science
Alliance helps scientists-in-training attain successful and
rewarding careers by providing career development courses, as well
as unparalleled networking opportunities through events with
leaders in academia and industry.
Professional Community Building
The Academy
creates unparalleled networking opportunities for scientists in a
variety of fields and disciplines through Frontiers of Science, its
core program for scientific conferences and symposia. Bringing
together international experts and partners from academia,
industry, government, and beyond, Frontiers of Science provides a
neutral forum for participants to exchange information on basic and
applied research and to discuss the broader role of science,
medicine, and technology in society. In addition to organizing
12–14 international interdisciplinary conferences each year,
Frontiers of Science also runs an extensive schedule of events
organized around interdisciplinary discussion groups focused on
current topics in the life sciences, physical sciences, and green
science and sustainability, totaling approximately 80 meetings each
year.
International Collaboration
The Academy's
membership is global and so too is its outreach; it has a rich
history of collaborating on pressing social and scientific
challenges with countries like Mexico, Russia, the United
Kingdom, Qatar, and most
recently, Malaysia. The Prime
Minister of Malaysia has invested
heavily in all stages of the STEM pipeline and is partnering with
the Academy to create programs in Malaysia that will foster the next generation
of global innovators. Dato' Sri Dr. Zakri
Abdul Hamid, the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister,
traveled from Malaysia to convey
the Prime Minister's support for global partnerships, including an
initiative led by the Academy, the State
University of New York, and leading Malaysian education
institutes to support the next generation of scientists from cradle
to career.
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Sciences
Gala
attendees celebrated 11 promising young researchers who serve
society with their work. "Their exceptional discoveries represent
our future and our hope for a better world for all," said Academy
Governor Len Blavatnik,
Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and Head of the Blavatnik
Family Foundation, who congratulated this year's winners and
finalists of The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Established in 2007 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, this
awards program recognizes researchers who make innovative,
impactful, and interdisciplinary advances in the life and physical
sciences, mathematics, and engineering. The concept of the awards
is unique in that it bridges more than 30 scientific disciplines
from the natural sciences to engineering and math.
Out of approximately 170 high-caliber applications, 60 judges
named four faculty members and five postdoctoral fellows as winners
and two faculty members as finalists. All winners and finalists
receive unrestricted cash prizes.
The 2012 Faculty Winners are:
- B. Andrei Bernevig, Condensed Matter Physics,
Princeton University;
- Jason Fridley, Ecology & Ecological Economics,
Syracuse University;
- Alison Galvani, Public Health & Applied Mathematics,
Yale University; and
- Assaf Naor, Mathematics & Computer Science,
New York University.
The 2012 Faculty Finalists are:
- Michael Collins, Computer Science, Columbia University; and
- Wei Min, Physical Chemistry, Columbia University.
The 2012 Postdoctoral Winners are:
- Andrey Feklistov, Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University;
- Michael Hahn, Astrophysics, Columbia University;
- Robert Johnston, Developmental Biology, New York University;
- Elisa Oricchio, Clinical Medicine, Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and
- Nicholas Stavropoulos, Genetics & Genomics,
The Rockefeller University.
Nominations for the 2013 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
will be accepted from December 1,
2012 to January 31, 2013. To
nominate a researcher or for more information about the Blavatnik
Awards for Young Scientists,
visit www.nyas.org/blavatnikawards or contact Awards
Coordinator Marley Bauce at mbauce@nyas.org.
The 2012 Gala was underwritten by the Blavatnik Family
Foundation and Jim & Marilyn
Simons, with additional funding from a host of generous
corporate and individual supporters.
About The Blavatnik Family Foundation
The Blavatnik Family Foundation is an active supporter of
educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions in
the United States, the
United Kingdom, Israel, and throughout the world. Recipients
of Foundation support include, among others, Oxford University, Harvard
University, Tel Aviv University,
Tate, The Royal Opera House, The Hermitage, The National Portrait
Gallery, The British Museum, The National Gallery of Art, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Academy of Sciences, The
White Nights Foundation, The Center for Jewish History and other
Jewish causes as well as many other philanthropic institutions. The
Foundation is headed by Len
Blavatnik, an American industrialist. Mr. Blavatnik is the
founder and Chairman of Access Industries, a privately-held U.S.
industrial group with global interests in natural resources and
chemicals, media and telecommunications, and real estate.
About the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit
organization that since 1817 has been committed to advancing
science, technology, and society worldwide. With 25,000 members in
140 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of
science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core mission is
to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global
challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase
the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at
large. Please visit us online at www.nyas.org.
CONTACT: Diana Friedman,
212.298.8645, dfriedman@nyas.org
SOURCE New York Academy of Sciences