Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president and founder of the American Council on Science and Health, was recently selected to receive the 1996 Ethics Award from the American Institute of Chemists (AIC).
The award is presented annually to an individual who "performs duties dictated by ethical considerations in the face of difficulties, for the benefit of the public and/or workers in chemistry and chemical engineering; displays leadership in an organization's ethical relationships with the public and/or employees in the field; and/or performs effective advocacy of organizational and/or governmental policies relating to chemistry that encourage ethical treatment of individuals."
Dr. Whelan will accept the award at the AIC's Ethics Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 10, 1996. She will address the symposium on the topic of "America's Inverted Health Priorities," explaining why so many Americans focus on nonexistent health risks while ignoring real dangers, and why it is the duty of all scientists to speak out against misinformation on public health and scientific issues. Her speech will subsequently be published in an issue of The Chemist, the official publication of the AIC.
The American Institute of Chemists, a nationwide professional society with a membership of over 5,000 chemistry professionals, in 1990 became the first association of chemists to develop a national ethics award. Past recipients of the award include Dr. James J. Zwolenik, Assistant Inspector General for Oversight at the National Science Foundation; Dr. Margot O'Toole of the Genetics Institute; and Dr. Fred Ordway, president of the Instart Corporation.