On May 20th, the Noyce Foundation announced that it is awarding a grant (and a matching grant challenge) to the New York Hall of Science to establish the Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists. The Center honors the memory and celebrates the work of Alan, who was the project director of the SENCER-ISE initiative. In his distinguished career, Alan served as the director of the New York Hall of Science for 22 years and was a trustee of the Noyce Foundation for seven years.
For more information on the grant, and to learn how you can contribute to the Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists, please read the Noyce Foundation’s announcement below.
The outpouring of sorrow and fond remembrances brought on by the death of
Alan Friedman comes as no surprise to any of us. There was no one else like Alan. As a scientist, an educator, a museum leader, a mentor and friend; he was an inspiration to so many people in so many ways.
To honor his memory, the Noyce Foundation is making a $500,000 grant to the New York Hall of Science to establish the Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists. In response to the many people who have reached out to us expressing a wish to make a contribution in Alan’s memory, the Noyce Foundation is also offering a matching challenge of up to an additional $250,000 to further advance the Center.
At the core of Alan’s vision for the New York Hall of Science was the commitment to provide the opportunity for high school and college students to develop their interests in science by sharing the experience of discovery with others. For nearly 30 years, the brilliance of that vision has been proven through the many programs Alan created and inspired, most notably the Science Career Ladder.
The Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists will encompass both the Science Career Ladder program and the recently launched Science Career Ladder Institute. The Institute provides Explainers with intensive support through career preparation, pre-professional mentorship and apprenticeships, field trips, networking opportunities, and research-methods training. In the future, additional programs will be created to cultivate the interests and careers of young scientists in ways we can only imagine.
A formal announcement of the Center will be made on June 14 at a memorial for Alan that will be hosted at the Hall of Science. Knowing that Alan meant so much to all of us, we wanted to make sure you heard about this news right away. Although we are all feeling the loss of Alan in so many ways, we take inspiration from knowing that the Center will enable his vision to stay with us long into the future.
If you wish to contribute to the challenge, please contact [email protected] for more information. You can also make a gift onlinehere.
Sincerely,
Ann Bowers, Chair, Noyce Foundation Board of Trustees
Margaret Honey, President and CEO, New York Hall of Science