February 8, 1999

Science Communication Program director honored at AAAS meeting

By Tim Stephens

At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Anaheim, Chancellor Greenwood took the opportunity as AAAS president to throw a party in honor of John Wilkes, director of UCSC's Science Communication Program.

John Wilkes, director of the Science Communication Program, poses with Chancellor Greenwood at a reception in Wilkes's honor.

AAAS meetings always feature a strong contingent of Wilkes's former students attending the scientific sessions and filing stories from the pressroom. So it seemed a perfect setting in which to honor Wilkes for establishing the Science Communication Program as one of the best training grounds for science writers anywhere.

The one-year program takes students with science degrees and makes skilled writers and reporters of them. Graduates of the program include reporters for major newspapers and magazines, radio and TV reporters, and writers for museums, university news offices, and other media outlets. The program also has a successful science illustration track.

"Nearly everyone in the country who follows media accounts of science has read or heard a story by one of John's graduates," Greenwood said.

At the AAAS reception, Greenwood presented Wilkes with a plaque recognizing his "outstanding contributions to public understanding of science." The reception was attended by a lively crowd of reporters, scientists, and program graduates. Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson joined Greenwood in congratulating Wilkes.

In accepting the award, Wilkes recalled that he once asked Bill Cromie, science and medical writer for the Harvard Gazette, if he had any advice for students in the writing program. Cromie replied simply, "Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Fast, fast, fast."

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