FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 12, 2011

American Chemical Society honors Jeremy Berg and Norman Neureiter with Public Service Award

Press invited, B-338 Rayburn House Office Building, Wednesday, April 13, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2011 — Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Norman P. Neureiter, Ph.D., senior advisor to the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), will receive the American Chemical Society's (ACS) 2011 Public Service Award for their vision and leadership in science and engineering policy.

Berg and Neureiter will be honored at a Capitol Hill ceremony and public reception on Wednesday, April 13, which will be held in B-338 Rayburn House Office Building from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

“I am very pleased that ACS is recognizing two scientists who have dedicated their talents to public service,” ACS President Nancy B. Jackson, Ph.D., said. “Dr. Jeremy Berg is an effective advocate for basic research who has worked to increase the visibility of chemistry at NIH. His contributions will be felt for years to come, as he has focused on developing and motivating the next generation of scientists.”

“Among his decades of service in industry and in foreign policy, Dr. Norman Neureiter has the distinction of serving as the first science and technology adviser to the Secretary of State, leading the U.S.’s international science and technology cooperation efforts under Secretaries Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell,” said Jackson. “He has left a profound mark on both science and foreign policy so that ACS is particularly proud to be recognizing him in 2011 during this International Year of Chemistry.”

The leaders will be recognized for their public service as follows:

  • Jeremy M. Berg, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been an advocate for scientific research, research training, and programs designed to increase the diversity of the biomedical and behavioral research workforce. He has served as director of NIGMS since November 2003, overseeing a diverse array of research in areas including chemistry, biological chemistry, and pharmacology. The institute supports more than 4,500 research grants, about 10 percent of the grants funded by NIH as a whole. Under Berg’s leadership, NIGMS has increased the visibility of the role chemistry plays in improving health and has recognized the importance of green chemistry. Berg has also overseen the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award and New Innovator Award programs, which encourage innovation by supporting exceptionally creative investigators. Prior to his appointment as NIGMS director, Berg directed the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., where he also served as professor and director of the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry. In addition, he directed the Markey Center for Macromolecular Structure and Function and co-directed the W.M. Keck Center for the Rational Design of Biologically Active Molecules at the university.
  • Norman P. Neureiter, became the first science and technology adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State in September of 2000, building on multiple careers as a research chemist in the oil industry, four years in Germany and Poland as U.S. Scientific AttachÉ, four years in the White House Office of Science and Technology building international scientific relations, and 23 years in international business with the semiconductor industry including five years in Japan. During his three-year term under Secretaries Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, he dramatically increased both the number and profile of Ph.D. scientists serving in the Department of State through fellowship arrangements with scientific societies, especially the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The 54 AAAS Fellows in State and USAID today are very much his legacy. His successor at State extended this partnership concept to universities with the Jefferson Science Fellows Program that brings tenured professors into State to provide additional high-level scientific advice to the foreign policy process. In 2004, Neureiter joined AAAS as the first director of the newly established Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Presently, as Senior Advisor to the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy, he focuses on science cooperation as a means of constructive engagement with countries where overall relations may be quite strained, such as Iran and North Korea.

“ACS created its Public Service Award to recognize this kind of leadership that Drs. Berg and Neureiter exemplify, and it is fitting that they will be joining the list of distinguished recipients,” said Jackson.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony in conjunction with the Council on Undergraduate Research's annual "Posters on the Hill" event. The posters represent a sampling of the latest, cutting-edge research from undergraduates in science, mathematics and the humanities.

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Media Contact

Rachael Bishop
202-872-4445
r_bishop@acs.org