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For Immediate Release

“Alan Friedman Interview” on YouTube.com or at http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/globalgroove/awards.html

Innovator Alan Friedman Honored with 2008 LHS Excellence in Science Award

Friedman led New York’s public science-technology center for 22 years. There he was known for his innovative and creative leadership, and for his advocacy and work on behalf of informal science education. Previously, Friedman established the William K. Holt Planetarium at Lawrence Hall of Science. At LHS, working with a hand-me-down planetarium from UCLA, Friedman developed new programs—his first was on Stonehenge—that included the audience as participants, not just spectators. This innovation changed the way small planetariums around the world present astronomy to the public. A physicist by training, Friedman coauthored the book Einstein as Myth and Muse (Cambridge University Press) with literary critic Carol C. Donley.

Between his positions with LHS and the New York Hall of Science, Friedman spent two years at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris.

Recognized Leader in Informal Science Education

Friedman has received many national and international awards including being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and of the New York Academy of Sciences. The AAAS also recognized Friedman with its Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology for 1996–97. He received the ASTC Fellow Award in 2003, and in 2006 the American Association of Museums (AAM) named him to its Centennial Honor Roll. He is Immediate Past President of the Visitor Studies Association Board of Directors and a trustee of the Noyce Foundation.

In 2006, Friedman, now a consultant in museum development and science communication, was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board, an independent, bipartisan group that sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as “The Nation’s Report Card.”

Excellence In Science Awards

LHS also honored Discovery Communications/Science Channel with a 2008 Excellence in Science Award. This is the third year LHS has presented the awards, which honor an individual and an organization that have made deep and lasting commitments to science education.

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