The Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) has honoured American Chemical Society's (ACS) past president Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Ph.D., for decades of efforts in promoting public understanding of science. The group has named Shakhashiri as recipient of the 2013 Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science. CSSP is an organisation of leaders of 60 scientific societies representing more than 1.4 million members.
Shakhashiri, 2012 president of ACS, is the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His most recent effort in fostering public understanding of science involves leading development of the ACS Climate Science Toolkit, available at www.acs.org/climatescience. That online resource encourages scientists to communicate the objective scientific facts about global climate change to the public.
The award cites Shakhashiri for 'Outstanding contributions and accomplishments as a recognised magnifier of the public's understanding of science.' Established in 1993, the award is named for the late Carl Sagan, Ph.D., who was also the first recipient.
Shakhashiri is noted internationally for pioneering the use of demonstrations in the teaching of chemistry in classrooms, as well as to the public in museums, convention centres, shopping malls and retirement homes — and at his Science is Fun website. The Encyclopædia Britannica termed Shakhashiri the 'dean of lecture demonstrators in America.' He received the National Science Board’s Public Service Award in 2007 for pioneering new ways to encourage public understanding of science.
CSSP consists of presidents, presidents-elect and recent past presidents of the US’ main scientific societies. It is a leader in promoting science policy and science education and serves as a resource on major issues to the US government, as well as news media, policy groups, and civic and professional organisations.
