Biologist McCarthy nets Scientist of Year Award

The Harvard Foundation will present the 2009 Scientist of the Year Award to James J. McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography and master of Pforzheimer House, at this year’s Annual Albert Einstein Science Conference: “Advancing Minorities and Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.” McCarthy will be honored for his outstanding work in climate science and marine biology, as well as his discovery of the disappearance of ice in a vast expanse of the polar Arctic.

“The Harvard Foundation is pleased to honor one of our own faculty as the 2009 Scientist of the Year at our annual Albert Einstein Science Conference,” said S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation. “In addition to being a world-renowned scientist who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with other scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Professor McCarthy is a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a much-admired teacher, and a long-standing supporter of the intercultural programs of the Harvard Foundation.”

“The faculty and students of the Harvard Foundation congratulate Dr. James McCarthy on being named 2009 Scientist of the Year,” said Donald Pfister, Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany and chair of the foundation’s faculty advisory committee. “He is most deserving of this honor.”

The Scientist of the Year honorary luncheon will take place at noon Friday (March 20) in the Pforzheimer House Hastings Room. The Harvard Foundation Science Conference will continue on April 4, when grade-school students from Boston and Cambridge public schools will visit for a day of fun science education, with experiments and lectures conducted by Harvard faculty and students. This “Partners in Science” segment will take place in the Science Center from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Student mentors for the public school students are welcome.