FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 04, 2010

Veteran Great Lakes area journalist wins prestigious American Chemical Society award

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2010 — Ron Seely, an accomplished reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, will be awarded the American Chemical Society’s prestigious James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. Seely will be honored in San Francisco, Calif., on March 23, 2010, during a ceremony to be held at the Society’s 239th National Meeting and Exposition.

Media Contact:

Keith Lindblom
202-872-6214
k_lindblom@acs.org

Seely, an investigative, science and environmental journalist for over 20 years, has won national awards for his work from the Inland Press Association and the Scripps-Howard Foundation. His reports on the drinking water system in Madison, Wis., contributed to a city decision to overhaul a deteriorating water delivery system. Seely has reported on environmental issues affecting Wisconsin, as well as scientific research performed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a broad range of fields.

Tim Kelley, former managing editor for the Wisconsin State Journal, said of Seely’s reporting, “Seely is an accomplished science writer whose work has educated and informed thousands of residents of Wisconsin and the Midwest over the past 20 years. His reporting has substantially increased public knowledge and understanding of chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields.”

In addition to reporting, Seely is also a senior lecturer on the faculty of the Life Science Communication Department in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences where he has taught science writing for 10 years. Seely authored a chapter on local newspaper science reporting in A Field Guide for Science Writers, published by the National Association of Science Writers.

He will be recognized at the 2010 ACS National Awards ceremony at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. On Monday, March 22, Seely will present a talk titled “Science as Story: How I Get Neutrinos and Prions into the Headlines” during a reception hosted by the ACS Office of Public Affairs at Bistro Boudin, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. He will discuss science writing and the importance of covering these issues for the public and also how changes in the news industry complicate covering science news.

The Grady-Stack Award is an annual award named for James T. Grady and James H. Stack, two former managers of the ACS News Service. Established in 1955, the award recognizes and stimulates outstanding reporting that promotes the public’s understanding of chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields. The award consists of $3,000, a gold medallion and a bronze replica.

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