Formation | 1934 |
---|---|
Headquarters | New York |
President | Cassandra Willyard |
Executive Director | Tinsley Davis |
Website | https://www.nasw.org/ |
The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) was created in 1934 by science journalists and reporters. The mission of NASW is "to to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage". [1] It has been called, "the nation's oldest and largest professional association for science writers". [2]
In June 1934, John J. O'Neill, William L. Laurence, Howard W. Blakeslee, Gobind Behari Lal and David Dietz formed NASW as a press association with Dietz as its president. [3]
At a mid-September Cleveland meeting, additional charter members, including staff members of newspapers, were F. B. Coulton, Watson Davis, Victor Henderson, Thomas R. Henry, Waldemar Kaempffert, and Robert D. Potter. [4] [5] The original purpose of NASW was "to foster the dissemination of accurate scientific knowledge by the press". [5]
In December 1934, NASW journalists interviewed Albert Einstein, as reported by the Times Union :
"This is fine society," Dr. Einstein said, as he looked about the room. He was referring to the National Association of Science Writers, which had asked for the interview. He wore a single-breasted oxford gray suit, wing collar and knitted black tie. [6]
NASW was awarded the Clement Cleveland medal of the American Society for the Control of Cancer in 1938, "for their work in writing about cancer". [7]
The NASW incorporated in 1955, pledging itself to "foster the dissemination of accurate information regarding science through all media normally devoted to informing the public".[ citation needed ] Leaders of the NASW have been freelance and staff reporters for a majority of US newspapers, wire services, magazines, and broadcasters.
As of 2024, the organization reported having 2,478 members, 217 affiliates, and 434 students (3,129 total). [8]
Annually since 1972 NASW has held the Science in Society Awards to "to provide recognition — without subsidy from any professional or commercial interest — for investigative or interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact on modern society". [9] The organization considers granting awards in seven categories: books, commentary, science reporting, science features, long-form narratives, and series. [9]
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science.
Edward Williams Morley was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment.
Eric Allin Cornell is an American physicist who, along with Carl E. Wieman, was able to synthesize the first Bose–Einstein condensate in 1995. For their efforts, Cornell, Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.
Whitney Moore Young Jr. was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised. Young was influential in the United States federal government's War on Poverty in the 1960s.
Deborah Leigh Blum is an American science journalist and the director of the Knight Science Journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of several books, including The Poisoner's Handbook (2010) and The Poison Squad (2018), and has been a columnist for The New York Times and a blogger, via her blog titled Elemental, for Wired.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the Missouri School of Journalism. It is the largest and oldest association of investigative journalists in the world.
Kelly O'Donnell is an American journalist. She is a political reporter for NBC News as White House and Capitol Hill correspondent. She appears on NBC Nightly News, Today, Meet The Press, and MSNBC.
Robin Marantz Henig is a freelance science writer, and contributor to the New York Times Magazine. Her articles have appeared in Scientific American, Seed, Discover and women's magazines. She writes book reviews and occasional essays for the Washington Post, as well as articles for The New York Times science section, op-ed page, and Book Review.
The California Graduate Institute (CGI) was founded in 1968 as an independent graduate school specializing in psychology, marital and family therapy, and psychoanalysis. CGI and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology formally announced in fall 2008 that they were uniting. The merger was approved by The Chicago School’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), in October 2008. HLC joins the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) as two of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States.
The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries.
The MIT School of Science is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The School, which consolidated under the leadership of Karl Taylor Compton in 1932, is composed of 6 academic departments who grant SB, SM, and PhD or ScD degrees; as well as a number of affiliated laboratories and centers. As of 2020, the Dean of Science is Professor Nergis Mavalvala. With approximately 275 faculty members, 1100 graduate students, 700 undergraduate majors, 500 postdocs, and 400 research staff, the School is the second largest at MIT. As of 2019, 12 faculty members and 14 alumni of the School have won Nobel Prizes.
Dan Fagin is an American journalist who specializes in environmental science. He won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for his best-selling book Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation. Toms River also won the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, the National Academies Communication Award, and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award of the Society of Environmental Journalists, among other literary prizes.
Alison Bass is an American journalist and author of three books: her memoir, Brassy Broad: How one Journalist helped pave the way to #MeToo (2021); Getting Screwed: Sex Workers and the Law and Side Effects: A Prosecutor, A Whistleblower and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial.Side Effects won the National Association of Science Writers' Science in Society Award and its film rights were recently optioned.
Earl Ubell was an innovative science and health reporter, and editor primarily for the New York Herald Tribune and WCBS-TV from the late 1940s to the 1990s.
Gobind Behari Lal was an Indian-American journalist and independence activist. A relative and close associate of Lala Har Dayal, he joined the Ghadar Party and participated in the Indian independence movement. He arrived the United States on a scholarship to study at the University of California, Berkeley. Later, he worked as a science editor for the Hearst Newspapers. In 1937, he became the first Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize.
Grace Longwell Coyle (1892–1962) was a highly influential American thinker in the area of social work with groups. She wrote important books on the subject, and had great influence on the development of teaching group work concepts.
The Open Notebook(TON) is a science journalism non-profit organization, online magazine, and publisher. Its purpose is to help science journalists improve their skills. It publishes articles and interviews on the craft of science writing and maintains a database of successful pitch letters to editors. TON also runs a paid fellowship program for early-career science journalists. The Open Notebook is supported by foundation grants and individual donations, and also partners with journalism and science communication organizations.
Michael Balter is an American science journalist. His writings primarily cover anthropology, archaeology, mental health and sexual harassment in science.
Joan May Hollobon, was a Welsh-born Canadian writer and journalist best known for her progressive medical reporting for Globe and Mail. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (2019) in recognition of her impact on the relationship between medical professionals and the media.