The Prize is awarded annually to either a public servant in recognition of sustained exceptional contributions to advancing science, or to a scientist whose career has been distinguished both for scientific achievement and for other notable services to the scientific community. The Prize was established in 1985 by the AAAS Board of Directors and consists of a plaque and an honorarium of $5,000.
"Norm Augustine has demonstrated his enduring commitment to research, education, and innovation by testifying before Congress, chairing elite committees, and providing wise counsel to the nation's leaders," said Alan I Leshner, AAAS CEO and executive publisher of the journal, Science. "He has helped to ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of scientific capability, thereby enhancing our ability to shape and improve our nation's and the world's future."
Augustine's distinguished career spans 40 years and includes volunteer service to the government and science and technology communities. As a public servant for 10 years, he worked in the Pentagon's Office of the Secretary of Defense as an assistant director of defense research and engineering. Later he was an assistant secretary of the U.S. Army, then under secretary, then acting secretary of the Army. Today he is a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council.
As a captain of industry, Augustine has been chair and chief executive officer of Martin Marietta Corp., and president of Lockheed Martin Corp. upon its formation, rising to be its CEO and later chair. He is on the Board of Directors for Phillips Petroleum, Proctor & Gamble, Black and Decker, and Lockheed Martin. He also serves on the boards of many educational, philanthropic and cultural organizations, and has been on advisory boards to universities, the White House, U.S. Senate, NATO and federal agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, General Accounting Office, and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Energy, Transportation and Homeland Security.
In 1986 Augustine chaired a task force on U.S. competitiveness in the semiconductor industry that recommended a public-private partnership which spawned SEMATECH, credited with saving the U.S. semiconductor industry. He also served on the Hart-Rudman Commission and contributed to its prescient report in early 2001, warning of the likelihood of direct attacks against the United States on its soil, and stressed the threat to U.S. national security from inadequate investment in research and S&T education.
After retiring from the industrial sector in 1997, he joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He has been a trustee of Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton; a fellow of the IEEE, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the American Astronautical Society; and a member of AAAS, New York Academy of Sciences, International Academy of Astronautics, and National Academy of Engineering, where he was chair for nine years. He also has been chair of the American Red Cross and president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Illustrative of his strong ethical sense is his service as co-chair of the National Institutes of Health's Blue Ribbon Panel on Conflict of Interest Policy.
Augustine holds bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical engineering from Princeton and has 19 honorary degrees. His many honors include the National Medal of Technology and the U.S. Department of Defense's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Service Medal, given to him five times. He is author or coauthor of dozens of articles and has written four books.
The Prize was inspired by Philip Hauge Abelson, "a true icon in the scientific community" who served as long-time senior adviser to AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and editor of the Association's journal, Science. Abelson, who also served as president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, died 1 August 2004, following more than 60 years of service to science and society.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, reaching 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.
For more information on AAAS awards, see http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/. Awards will be bestowed at the 2006 AAAS Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Mo., on 18 February.
AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society, dedicated to "Advancing science ∙ Serving society."