The National Science Board established the Vannevar Bush Award (/væˈniːvər/ van-NEE-vər) in 1980 to honor Dr. Vannevar Bush's unique contributions to public service. The annual award recognizes an individual who, through public service activities in science and technology, has made an outstanding "contribution toward the welfare of mankind and the Nation." The recipient of the award receives a bronze medal struck in the memory of Dr. Bush.
Dr. Bush (1890–1974) was a prominent scientist, adviser to Presidents, and the force behind the establishment of the National Science Foundation. In 1945, at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he recommended that a foundation be established by Congress to serve as a focal point for the Federal Government's support and encouragement of research and education in science and technology as well as the development of a national science policy. The legislation creating the National Science Foundation was signed by President Harry S. Truman on May 10, 1950
List of winners:
- 1980 – James R. Killian, Jr.
- 1981 – William O. Baker
- 1982 – Lee A. DuBridge
- 1983 – Frederick Seitz
- 1984 – Roger R. Revelle
- 1985 – Hans A. Bethe
- 1986 – I. I. Rabi
- 1987 – David Packard
- 1988 – Glenn T. Seaborg
- 1989 – Linus Pauling
- 1990 – no award
- 1991 – James A. Van Allen
- 1992 – Jerome B. Wiesner
- 1993 – Norman Hackerman
- 1994 – Frank Press
- 1995 – Norman F. Ramsey, Jr.
- 1996 – Philip H. Abelson
- 1997 – H. Guyford Stever
- 1998 – Robert M. White
- 1999 – Maxine Frank Singer
- 2000 – Herbert F. York and Norman Borlaug
- 2001 – Harold Varmus and Lewis M. Branscomb
- 2002 – Erich Bloch
- 2003 – Richard C. Atkinson
- 2004 – Mary L. Good
- 2005 – Robert W. Galvin
- 2006 – Charles H. Townes and Raj Reddy
- 2007 – Shirley Ann Jackson
- 2008 – Norman Augustine
- 2009 – Mildred Dresselhaus
- 2010 – Bruce M. Alberts
- 2011 – Charles M. Vest
- 2012 – Leon M. Lederman
Famous quotes containing the words bush and/or award:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)
“The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)