Michael Mann to Receive John Scott Award from the Franklin Institute and the City of Philadelphia

Michael E. Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science

Michael E. Mann, one of the world’s leading voices on climate change, will receive the John Scott Award from the Franklin Institute and the City of Philadelphia. The oldest science award in the United States, the John Scott Award is given to “the most deserving” individuals who have contributed to the “comfort, welfare and happiness” of humankind. Mann shares the award with Princeton’s Robert Socolow.

Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media, also holds a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. His research interests include the study of Earth’s climate system and the science, impacts, and policy implications of human-caused climate change. Mann was lead author on the Observed Climate Variability and Change chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report in 2001, and was organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science in 2003. He has received numerous honors and awards including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the 50 leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. In all, Mann has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed and edited publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries, and six books, most recently Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, which was published in September.

The John Scott Awards are named after the 19th-century chemist who endowed the prize in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Mann and Socolow will be presented with their awards Nov. 30 at the American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743 by Franklin in Philadelphia. The award comes with a prize of $15,000 each. Winners are selected by other scientists from around the nation.

 

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