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NCSE is delighted to congratulate two of its members, Joseph Felsenstein and John D. Roberts, who are among the eighteen individuals to be honored by the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 with "awards recognizing extraordinary scientific achievements in the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy, social sciences, psychology, and application of science for the public good," according to a January 28, 2009, press release.
Felsenstein, professor in the departments of genome sciences and biology at the University of Washington, was awarded the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, which brings with it a medal and a prize of $25,000. According to the press release, Felsenstein is "being honored for revolutionizing population genetics, phylogenetic biology, and systematics by developing a sophisticated computational framework to deduce evolutionary relationships of genes and species from molecular data." He recently contributed "Has Natural Selection Been Refuted?" to Reports of the National Center for Science Education.
Roberts, Institute Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology, was awarded the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society, established by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, which brings with it a prize of $20,000. According to the press release, "Roberts is being honored for seminal contributions in physical organic chemistry, in particular the introduction of NMR spectroscopy to the chemistry community." Replying to a congratulatory note from NCSE, Roberts commented, "It would be nice to have an award for service to society for settling the hash of creationism vs. science!"