CU Vice Provost Burns presents AAS service award to U.S. Rep. Boehlert

Vice Provost Joseph A. Burns, left, and U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert at the ceremony in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., July 23. American Astronomical Society

By David Brand

U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, was among those honored with a Public Service Award for "committed and sustained effort in support of science" at a ceremony at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., July 23. The presentation, on behalf of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), was made by Joseph A. Burns, Cornell vice provost for physical sciences and engineering.

The awards, which also are sponsored by the American Mathematical Society and the American Physical Society, also were given to Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va).

Boehlert's district includes parts of Cornell, although not the town and city of Ithaca, where the central campus is located. He has long been a supporter of many of the projects that Cornell is interested in, including agriculture and the environment and math and science education.

"For many, many years Mr. Boehlert has been a very good friend and neighbor to Cornell University," Burns said in making the presentation. "In many ways he's been like a caring parent to the sciences ... always our cheerleader, helping out when we need assistance but also willing to tell us the facts of life and provide tough-minded advice."

Burns, who also is the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and professor of astronomy at Cornell, facilitates the university's research in the areas of physical sciences and engineering, especially at federally funded centers. At AAS he is senior vice president and previously has chaired the society's divisions of planetary sciences and dynamical astronomy.

The Public Service Award, first given in 2000, recognizes public figures for sustained and exceptional contributions to public policies that foster support for research education and industrial innovation in the physical sciences and mathematics. Previous recipients include Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).