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| Volume 48, Number 3, Fall 1999 |
The directors of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) announce the creation of The Victor Cohn Medical Science Writing Award. The award will be granted to an individual for a body of work of notable quality published over the last five years. The plan is to present the first award at the New Horizons of Science meeting in October 2000 at Rice University in Houston.
In naming the award for Vic Cohn, CASW recognizes his seminal achievements in a long and illustrious career of science and medical writing that has spanned more than five decades.
First as science and medical reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune, and then science editor, science and medical reporter, and health columnist for the Washington Post. Cohn distinguished himself for reporting of unexcelled honesty and clarity. He also wrote articles for a variety of prestigious publications, and became the first two-time winner of NASW's Science-in-Society Award, and the first two-time winner of the AAAS-Westinghouse prize.
Cohn co-founded the CASW and was president of NASW 1961-62. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Cohn is the author of News and Numbers, a widely used guide to the reporting of statistical data.
For the last several years there has been no means of saluting excellence in the broad field of media science writing. CASW intends to fill that void with this new award. An endowment has been established to ensure the award will be granted without interruption. Those wishing to contribute to the endowment may contact the CASW through Diane McGurgan.