During the recent debate over evolution and science curriculum standards in Texas, a favorite source for “quote mining” by State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy was work by the late Stephen Jay Gould. McLeroy did his twisted best to portray Gould — who was one of the country’s most respected evolutionary biologists — as an evolution skeptic.
As McLeroy stumbled his way through one distorted quote after another from Gould, we watched our friends from the National Center for Science Education sigh and slowly shake their heads. So it’s with great satisfaction that we learn the news that Genie Scott, NCSE’s executive director, has been awarded the Stephen Jay Gould Prize by the Society for the Study of Evolution.
The Prize “recognizes individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould.”
Genie and the other folks at NCSE have been invaluable resources and allies for TFN during the recent curriculum debate and when the state board adopted new biology textbooks in 2003. They are not only smart and determined defenders of science — they are also wonderful friends and colleagues in our common efforts to promote sound science education for Texas schoolchildren.
Congratulations, Genie and NCSE!
