"We are honored and delighted by Mr. Golden's extraordinary and historic gift," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of its journal, Science. "Mr. Golden has dedicated much of his life's work to furthering science, science policy and science education. This latest demonstration of his selfless and ongoing support for the scientific enterprise will give life to an array of new initiatives intended to improve human welfare through scientific advances."
The gift will establish the William T. Golden Endowment Fund for Program Innovation. It will be used to fund new programs which would not be fundable in the general budget.
A desire to stimulate creative thinking and innovation prompted the gift, Mr. Golden said.
"I have great respect for the AAAS, as well as great affection and admiration for it, and I believe that the organization can become even more useful to society," Mr. Golden explained. "This gift will support programs that would not otherwise be funded as part of the Association's normal budgetary plan. With this gift, I am encouraging AAAS to seek creativity on the part of its staff people and others. They will be called upon to propose ideas and to seek approval from the Chief Executive Officer for new initiatives. This seems to me to be a very good idea."
A lifelong resident of New York City since his birth there in 1909, Mr. Golden helped to shape post-World War II science policy through his service as an advisor to late U.S. President Harry Truman.
"I've had an interesting time of it so far," Mr. Golden commented, when asked to reflect upon his support for science a
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Contact: Ginger Pinholster
gpinhols@aaas.org
202-326-6400
American Association for the Advancement of Science
17-Feb-2003