Rita Colwell Wins The Stockholm Water Prize

Rita Colwell, a Professor working with the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, has won the Stockholm Water Prize worth $150,000, for conducting a research on finding techniques to prevent Cholera and other waterborne illnesses.

Dr. Colwell is a member of the Board of Directors of Americans for UNESCO. She has had a long and distinguished career, including serving as the Director of the National Science Foundation, President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Read more about Dr Colwell.

Read more about the award to Dr. Colwell.

Congratulations Rita!

Presidential Science Envoy Dr. Elias Zerhouni Visits UNESCO

On February 10, Dr. Elias Zerhouni met with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and key UNESCO ambassadors and secretariat staff. In his meetings, he outlined the Obama Administration's plans to develop scientific centers of excellence in the Muslim world, to use modern technologies to create economic and social opportunities, and to foster enterprise within individual countries on a local level.

"We must promote the idea of impactful science and technology initiatives that lead to entrepreneurship and to wealth creation."

Dr. Elias Zerhouni is on a ten-day trip to France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in his role as Presidential Science Envoy. Dr. Zdfhouni is a distinguished radiologist who has published extensively on medical imaging. He served as Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health from 2002 to 2008, after which service he returned to Johns Hopkins University, his long time academic home.

Dr. Zerhouni now serves on the boards of the Lasker Foundation, Research America, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Mayo Clinic Foundation. He also serves as an external chief advisor for global science and technology for Sanofi-Aventis and was named chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission in April 2009. He was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2000.

A Profile of Esther Coopersmith

The Washington Scene recently published a profile of Esther Coopersmith, the longtime chair of the Advisory Committee of Americans for UNESCO. She was honored as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialog last September. In conferring this honor, UNESCO's Director General paid

special tribute to Esther Coopersmith, whose energy and devotion to UNESCO’s ideals was a driving force in both the U.S. return and subsequent strong re-engagement. Over the past decade, she has been an outspoken advocate for UNESCO within the US, helping to make our work better known among the American public and forge new ties and friendships.

The UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity advocates who use their talent and fame to spread the ideals of UNESCO by attracting the public’s attention to its activities. They include South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, French philanthropist Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco, and Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

I understand she is also to serve as a member of UNESCO's High Level Panel on Dialog of Civilizations which has its first meeting on Thursday, February 18th. The High Level Panel is to provide "thoughtful guidance and creative initiative" for UNESCO in its celebration of the 2010 International Year of Rapprochement of Cultures.

David R. Sokoloff Now Vice President on AAPT Executive Board

Source: Physics Today, February 20, 2009.

"The American Association of Physics Teachers announced that David R. Sokoloff has assumed the role of Executive Board Vice President. Dr. Sokoloff, Professor of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, will serve as Vice President in 2009, President-Elect in 2010, President in 2011, and Past President in 2012......

"Since 1999, he has been part of UNESCO teams presenting active learning workshops in Australia, Vietnam, Korea, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Malaysia, Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Tanzania, Brazil, Mexico, Zambia, and Cameroon, most recently as part of the UNESCO program for developing countries, Active Learning in Optics and Photonics. He is editor/contributor to Active Learning in Optics and Photonics Training Manual (UNESCO, 2006)."