The National Science Board established the Public Service award in 1996. The annual award recognizes people and groups (e.g., companies, corporations, organizations) that have increased the public's understanding of science or engineering. The Sea Education Association (SEA), the sole recipient of the Public Service Award in 2016, began operations in 1971 and is now an internationally recognized leader in undergraduate ocean education. Based in the oceanographic research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, SEA equips high school students and undergraduates with tools to become environmentally literate leaders prepared to address the defining issue of the 21st century: human impacts on the environment.

Credit: NSF

The National Science Board (NSB) initiated its Vannevar Bush Award in 1980 in memory of Vannevar Bush, who helped establish federal funding for science and engineering as a national priority and played a pivotal role in the creation of the National Science Foundation. Robert Birgeneau, the 2016 awardee, is chancellor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley and holds the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Distinguished Chair in the Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering and Public Policy. NSB is recognizing Birgeneau, an internationally distinguished physicist and leader in the academic community, for his exceptional public service and scientific leadership -- including lifelong, high caliber research committed to the public good, tireless advocacy for the nation's research universities and unrelenting efforts to advance equity and inclusion in higher education and science.

Credit: NSF

The National Science Foundation selects MIT chemistry professor Mircea Dincă as the 2016 winner of the 40th anniversary Alan T. Waterman Award. Dincă discusses the award and metal organic frameworks.

Credit: NSF