2012 AAAS Mentor Awards

published May 14, 2012 7:32pm
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is now seeking nominations for the 2012 AAAS Mentor Awards. All nominations are due by July 31, 2012.

The two categories of the AAAS Mentor Awards, the Lifetime Mentor Award and the Mentor Award, honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the science and engineering PhD workforce. These groups include: women of all racial or ethnic groups; African American, Native American, and Hispanic men; and people with disabilities.

The recipient of the 2011 AAAS Mentor Award is Dr. Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor and FISA/PIVA Chair for the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Cooper is honored for his dedication and successful efforts to increase the number of women and disabled persons with PhDs in rehabilitation science. Rory Cooper is personally dedicated to the success of his students, having mentored 100 undergraduates, 69 Master's candidates, 37 Ph.D. students, and 12 postdocs—half of whom have come from underrepresented groups—toward degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math fields.

The recipient of the 2011 AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award is Dr. Bobby Wilson, L. Lloyd Woods Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas Southern University and Shell Oil Endowed Chaired. Dr. Wilson is honored for his extraordinary efforts to significantly increase the number of African American with PhDs in Chemistry and environmental toxicology. Dr. Wilson has built a national reputation as a research chemist. He built new programs in health care administration, computer science, urban planning and environmental policy, and pharmaceutical sciences. He also strengthened existing programs. Dr. Wilson has mentored 19 PhDs from the U.S. who are from underrepresented groups in STEM, including 8 African American males and 11 African American females.

For more information and the criteria please visit the website at: http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/mentor/. The application PDF can be downloaded and filled out electronically for increased efficiency and accuracy. Enhanced tables and clarifying language help to highlight the spirit of the award, PhD completion and institutional change in underrepresented groups.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at gboulin@aaas.org .
Thank You,

Gerard Boulin
Senior Project Coordinator
Education and Human Resources Program
American Association for the Advancement of Science