New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817.[1] It is one of the oldest scientific societies in the United States.[3] An independent, nonprofit organization with more than 20,000 members in 100 countries, the academy's mission is "to advance scientific research and knowledge; to support scientific literacy; and to promote the resolution of society's global challenges through science-based solutions".[4] The incoming president and CEO is Nicholas Dirks; the current chair of the board of governors of the academy is NYU professor and longtime senior vice president of all research for IBM, Paul Horn. He succeeds Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor, The State University of New York (SUNY).[5]

The New York Academy of Sciences
MottoPer terras, per celestis, per aerum, per maria (Latin)
Established1817[1]
TypeNonprofit professional society
(IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3)[2]
PurposeScience, education, and public policy
HeadquartersNew York, New York, United States
Area served
Worldwide
MethodDonations and grants
Key people
Nicholas Dirks, incoming CEO and president
Eunice Miner, executive director, 1935-1967
Samuel L. Mitchill, founder
Websitenyas.org
NYAS 40th floor lobby

History

Founded on January 29, 1817, the New York Academy of Sciences was originally called the Lyceum of Natural History.[1] Convened by the Academy's founder and first President, Samuel L. Mitchill, the first meeting of the Lyceum took place at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, located on Barclay Street near Broadway in lower Manhattan.[1] The principal activities of the early Lyceum focused on hosting lectures, collecting natural history specimens, and establishing a library.[1] In 1823, the Lyceum began publishing its own scientific journal, then the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, now the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. By 1826 the Lyceum owned "the richest collection of reptiles and fish in the country," however a fire in 1866 destroyed the collection completely.[3] Following the fire, the Academy turned its focus away from collecting and instead to research, scientific publishing, and disseminating scientific information.

From the outset, the New York Academy of Sciences membership was unique among scientific societies, with a democratic structure that allowed anyone to become a member, from laymen to respected professional scientists.[3] For that reason, the membership has always included a mix of scientists, business people, academics, those working in government, and public citizens with an interest in science. Prominent members have included two United States Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe,[1] as well as numerous well-known scientists such as Asa Gray (who served as the Superintendent of the Academy starting in 1836),[3] John James Audubon,[3] Alexander Graham Bell,[1] Thomas Edison,[1] Louis Pasteur,[1] Charles Darwin,[1] and Margaret Mead (who served for a time as the Vice President of the Academy).[3] Prior to 1877, the Academy only admitted men, but on November 5, 1877, they elected Erminnie A. Smith the first female member.[6] Membership has also included numerous Nobel Prize winners over the years.[1]

Early Academy members played prominent roles in the establishment of New York University in 1831[1] and the American Museum of Natural History in 1858.[1]

The Academy has made significant contributions to the scientific community during the course of its history, including publishing one of the first studies on environmental pollution in 1876;[7] conducting a scientific survey of Puerto Rico from 1907 to 1934;[1] the first conference on antibiotics on 21 July 1948;[1] hosting an important gathering and publishing the first volume on the cardiovascular effects of smoking in 1960;[8] the founding of a Women in science Committee in 1977;[1] the world's first major scientific conference on AIDS in 1983;[9] and a conference on SARS in 2003.[10]

In 2006, the Academy moved into its current home on the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center.

Publications

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Published since 1823, the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (first published as the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York) is one of the oldest continuously published scientific serials in the United States.[11]

The Sciences

The Sciences was a popular science magazine published by the Academy from 1961 to 2001.[12] It worked to bridge the sciences and culture, winning seven National Magazine Awards during its history.[13]

Programs

The Junior Academy

The Junior Academy is a community under the New York Academy of the Sciences that aims to connect students ages 13 to 17. Each year, 1,000 students from around the world are selected to be a part of the program and compete in 10-week long challenges. Students work together on an online platform, Launchpad, to collaborate with students from around the world and a mentor. The Junior Academy currently has an acceptance rate of 10%.[14]

Human Rights of Scientists Award

The Committee on Human Rights of Scientists was created in 1978 to support and promote the human rights of scientists, health professionals, engineers, and educators around the world. The full name is "Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award", it is given to scientists for their contributions to safeguard or advance the human rights of scientists all across the world. It was retitled in 1986.[15] Awardees have included: Andrei Sakharov (1979); Man-Yee Betty Tsang (2000); Óscar Elías Biscet (2008); and Kamiar and Arash Alaei (2009).[16]

Awards

The New York Academy of Sciences presents a number of awards to support scientists and their research. As of 2020, those awards were:

Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. Blavatnik awards are for select postdoctoral scientists in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and for young faculty from research institutions based in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. These unrestricted cash grants for all the Blavatnik Awards are provided by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.[17]

  • Blavatnik National Awards are for faculty-rank scientists and engineers in Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences.
  • Blavatnik Regional Awards are for postdoctoral scientists working in the fields of Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
  • Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom are for young, faculty-rank scientists and engineers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England.
  • Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel are for young faculty-rank scientists and engineers early in their independent research careers.

Innovators in Science Award celebrates promising early-career scientists' and senior scientists' contributions to biomedical science and is intended to support their continued innovative research.[18]

James McKeen Cattell Award is to recognize outstanding doctoral dissertations in psychology.

Travel Fellowships are awarded to qualified early- career researchers who are underrepresented on science careers in order to help defray the cost of travel to Academy symposia.

Previous Academy awards include the A. Cressy Morrison Prize[19] ( also known as the Morrison Astronomy Prize)[20] named for the chemist and former president of the Academy. The prize was established in 1926[21] was presented until at least 1945.[20] Notable recipients were Hans Bethe (1938),[22] John Archibald Wheeler (1945), Max J. Herzberger (1945),[23] Donald H. Menzel (1926), H. von Zeipel (1930), R. E. Marshak (1940).[24]

References
  1. Baatz, Simon (1990). "Knowledge, Culture and Science in the Metropolis: The New York Academy of Sciences, 1817–1970". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 584: 1–256. doi:10.1111/nyas.1990.584.issue-1. PMID 2200324.
  2. GuideStar.org New York Academy of Sciences Archived 2015-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 28, 2015
  3. "The New York Academy of Sciences and the American Intellectual Tradition: An Historical Overview". Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences. 37 (1): 3–13. December 1975. doi:10.1111/j.2164-0947.1975.tb03035.x. PMID 766353.
  4. "Mission & History". The New York Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. "Board of Governors". The New York Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. Fairchild, Herman Le Roy (1887). A History of the New York Academy of Sciences, Formerly the Lyceum of Natural History. New York Academy of Sciences. p. 133. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  7. Garfield, Eugene (December 6, 1993). "A Tribute to the New York Academy of Sciences: Denis Cullinan on Its History, Future, and Classic Papers" (PDF). Current Comments. Number 49: 398–407. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  8. "Cardiovascular Effects of Nicotine and Smoking". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 90: 5–344. September 1960. doi:10.1111/nyas.1960.90.issue-1.
  9. Schmeck, Harold (November 20, 1983). "New Theory Given for the Cause of AIDS". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  10. "SARS in the Context of Emerging Infectious Threats" (PDF). Columbia University. May 17, 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  11. Hanna, M. S.; Mohan, P.; Knabb, R.; Gupta, E.; Frost, C.; Lawrence, J. H. (2014). "Overview, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1329 (1): 93–106. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632. PMC 4260137. PMID 25377080.
  12. "The Sciences". The New York Academy of Sciences. The New York Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  13. "National Magazine Award Winners 1966-2015". American Society of Magazine Editors. American Society of Magazine Editors. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  14. https://www.nyas.org/programs/global-stem-alliance/the-junior-academy/
  15. "Home | the New York Academy of Sciences". Archived from the original on 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  16. "The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award". The New York Academy of Sciences. The New York Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  17. "Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists".
  18. "Innovators in Science Award".
  19. "PRIZES FOR SCIENTISTS.; A. Cressy Morrison Offers $100 for the Best Paper on the Atom". The New York Times. 1924-05-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  20. "A. Cressy Morrison".
  21. "Notes and Queries- The A. Cressy Morrison Astronomical Prize, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 40, p.43". Bibcode:1946JRASC..40...43H. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. "A. Cressy Morrison". hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  23. "New York Academy of Sciences: A. Cressy Morrison Prize Awards for 1945". Nature. 157 (3980): 155. 1946-02-01. doi:10.1038/157155d0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  24. "The A. Cressy Morrison Prize Contest for 1947". hkvalidate.perfdrive.com. doi:10.1086/125954. Retrieved 2020-09-03.

Bibliography
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