Note: As we prepare to announce our 2015 Annual Conference Awardees, take a look at the awardees from our 2014 conference in Philadelphia.
JOIN US at the 73rd AHA Annual Conference, June 5-8, 2014 in Philadelphia, PA! We’ll be honoring the following individuals who’ve contributed to the humanist community.
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Barney Frank, Humanist of the Year 2014 U.S. CONGRESSMAN (1981-2012) First elected to Congress in 1980, Barney Frank is known as a superb legislator and a pragmatic politician whose sharp intellect and sense of humor has made him one of the most influential and colorful figures in Washington. While in Congress, Frank worked to adjust America’s spending priorities to reduce the deficit, provide less funding for the military and more for important quality of life needs at home. In particular, he focused on providing aid to local communities, and to building and preserving affordable rental housing for low income people. He has also been a leader in the fight against discrimination of various sorts. He championed the interests of the poor, the underprivileged and the vulnerable, winning re-election 12 times by wide margins. As chair of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011, Frank was instrumental in crafting a compromise bill to stem the tide of home mortgage foreclosures, as well as the subsequent $550 billion rescue plan. He worked to adopt a sweeping set of financial regulations aimed at preventing a recurrence of this crisis, and was a key author of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the regulatory overhaul signed into law in July 2010. He also led the passage of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act, a measure that drew praise from editorial boards and consumer advocates. In 1987, Frank became the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as openly gay, and in 2012 he married his longtime partner, becoming the nation’s first congressman in a same-sex marriage while in office. After sixteen terms in Congress, Frank’s legacy as a champion of civil rights and financial reform, as well as his ability to simplify any issue at hand in a clever and witty way, will be sorely missed. According to the Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Frank’s combative liberalism and quick wit make him a standout in a Capitol filled with politicians dependent on talking points and polls, a trait alluded to by Mr. Obama who said in a written statement that, ‘The House of Representatives will not be the same without him.’” |
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Natalie Angier, Humanist Media AwardNatalie Angier is a Pulitzer-prize winning science columnist for The New York Times and the author of Woman: An Intimate Geography – a finalist for the National Book Award — and The Canon: A Whirligig Tour through the Beautiful Basics of Science, among other books. She has also written for Smithsonian, The Atlantic, National Geographic, The American Scholar, Wired, Geo, Slate, and many other publications, and she has served as editor for both The Best American Science Writing and The Best American Science and Nature Writing series. Angier’s books have been translated into over 20 languages, and her honors include the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) prize for excellence in science journalism; the Lewis Thomas award for distinguished writing in the life sciences; the Exploratorium’s Public Understanding of Science award; the Robert P. Balles annual prize in critical thinking; a Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood Federation of America; a Distinguished Alumna Award from Barnard College; the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s “Emperor Has No Clothes” award, and membership in the American Philosophical Society and Sigma Xi, the scientific research society. Angier graduated with high honors from Barnard College, where she studied English literature and science, and she was, at age 22, a founding staff member of the science magazine, Discover. |
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Greg Graffin, Humanist Arts AwardGreg Graffin is the lead vocalist and songwriter for the popular punk rock band Bad Religion. Bad Religion has sold over 5 million albums worldwide and is considered one of the best-selling punk rock bands of all time. Graffin, who identifies as a naturalist, holds a Ph.D. in zoology from Cornell University and has lectured courses in life sciences and paleontology at UCLA. He received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism from the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University in 2008 and, with his Bad Religion bandmates, headlined the Reason Rally in Washington DC in 2012. |
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Steve Rade, Humanist Business AwardSteve Rade, with his wife Susan, are founders of the Wireless Xcessories Group, a nationwide distributor of cellular phone accessories. Steve has been an active secular humanist since 1995 when he helped organize the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PHACT). He has been a contributor to the Center for Inquiry, the American Humanist Association, and the Secular Coalition of America. In 2008 Steve founded PhillyCoR and, in 2009, the United Coalition of Reason, with affiliates in more than 70 cities. The United Coalition of Reason assists local groups in the “community of reason” to cooperate toward achieving visibility, membership and impact in local communities. |
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Dr. Eugenie Scott, Lifetime Achievement AwardDr. Eugenie C. Scott is Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a not for profit membership organization of scientists, teachers, and others that works to improve the teaching of science as a way of knowing, the teaching of evolution, and the teaching of climate change. A former college professor, Dr. Scott lectures widely, and is called upon by the press and other media to explain science and evolution to the general public. Scott is the author of Evolution vs Creationism: An Introduction, co-editor (with Glenn Branch) of Not In Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong For Our Schools, and the author of many articles in science journals. She has served as President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and has been honored by both scientists and educators in having been awarded the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the National Science Board Public Service Award, the AIBS Outstanding Service Award, the Geological Society of America Public Service Award, the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, the California Science Teachers Association Distinguished Service Award, and the National Association of Biology Teachers Honorary Membership award, “the association’s highest honor.” In 2009, Scientific American named her “one of 10 outstanding leaders involved in research, business or policy pursuits that have advanced science and technology.” She holds honorary D.Sc. degrees from McGill University, Ohio State University, Mt. Holyoke University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Rutgers University, the University of New Mexico, Colorado College,the University of Missouri, and Chapman University, and was awarded the University Medal from the University of California-San Francisco. |
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Max Tegmark, Keynote Speaker
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Jessica Valenti, Humanist HeroineJessica Valenti – called one of the Top 100 Inspiring Women in the world by The Guardian – is the author of four books on feminism, politics and culture. Her third book, The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, won the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Award and was made into a documentary by the Media Education Foundation. She is also editor of the anthology Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, which was named one of Publishers Weekly‘s Top 100 Books of 2009. Her latest book, Why Have Kids: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness, was called a “brave and bracing critique of our unrealistic parenting ideals” by ELLE magazine. Jessica founded Feministing.com, which Columbia Journalism Review called “head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media.” Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Nation, The Guardian (UK), The American Prospect, Ms. magazine, Salon and Bitch magazine. She has won a Choice USA Generation award and the 2011 Hillman Journalism Prize for her work with Feministing. Jessica is a widely sought-after speaker who gives speeches at colleges, organizations, conferences and events across the country and abroad. She is also frequent media commentator and has appeared on The Colbert Report, CNN, MSNBC, PBS and TODAY show, among others. She received her Masters degree in Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers University. Jessica lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter. |
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Please Note: Jason Silva, who was previously scheduled to receive the Humanist Pioneer Award, has cancelled his appearance due to a film schedule conflict.
