Each year, CRDF Global resents the George Brown Award for International Scientific Cooperation to an individual for his or her critical work advancing critical issues through cross-border collaboration, in the spirit of the late Congressman's vision. In 2011, CRDF Global is pleased to recognize three individuals for their scientific and humanitarian achievements.
- Dr. Craig Barrett, faculty at Thunderbird School of Global Management and former chairman of the Intel Corporation
- Dr. Rita Colwell, chairman and president of CosmosID, senior advisor to Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and 2011 U.S. Science Envoy
- Ambassador Thomas Pickering, vice chairman of Hills & Co., International Consultants, and Career Ambassador at the U.S. Department of State
2011 George Brown Award Honoree: Dr. Craig Barrett
CRDF Global is pleased to bestow the 2011 George Brown Award for International Scientific Cooperation to Dr. Craig Barrett, a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and around the world. He is also a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards globally. In 2009, he stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation, a post he held from May 2005 to May 2009.
Craig Barrett was born in San Francisco, California. He attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California from 1957 to 1964, receiving Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science. After graduation, he joined the faculty of Stanford University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and remained through 1974, rising to the rank of Associate Professor. Dr. Barrett was a Fulbright Fellow at Danish Technical University in Denmark in 1972 and a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Physical Laboratory in England from 1964 to 1965. He is the author of over 40 technical papers dealing with the influence of microstructure on the properties of materials, and a textbook on materials science, Principles of Engineering Materials.
Dr. Barrett joined Intel Corporation in 1974 and held positions of vice president, senior vice president and executive vice president from 1984 to 1990. In 1992, he was elected to Intel Corporation's Board of Directors and was promoted to chief operating officer in 1993. Dr. Barrett became Intel's fourth president in 1997, chief executive officer in 1998 and chairman of the Board in 2005.
Dr. Barrett served until June 2009 as Chairman of the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, which works to bring computers and other technology to developing parts of the world. He chairs Achieve, Inc. and Dossia, vice chairs the National Forest Foundation and Science Foundation Arizona, is president and chairman of the BASIS Schools, Inc. Board of Directors, and a member of the Board of Directors of K12 Inc., Society for Science and the Public, the Arizona Commerce Authority Board, and Grameen Intel Social Business. Dr. Barrett is Honorary Chairman of the Irish Technology Leadership Group and serves on the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the faculty of Thunderbird School of Global Management. Dr. Barrett was appointed by the President of the U.S. as one of the private sector leaders of a national education science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiative now known as Change The Equation which he chairs, and he also was appointed by the President of the Russian Federation as the International co-chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Council. Dr. Barrett has served on numerous boards, policy and government panels, and has been an appointee of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations and the American Health Information Community. He has co-chaired the Business Coalition for Student Achievement and the National Innovation Initiative Leadership Council, and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Council for International Business and the Clinton Global Initiative Education Advisory Board. Dr. Barrett has been a member of the National Governors' Association Task Force on Innovation America, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security, the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum, past chair of the National Academy of Engineering, and formerly served on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, and TechNet.
CRDF Global is honored to present the 2011 George Brown Award to Dr. Rita Colwell, a Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus, Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., and President and CEO of CosmosID, Inc. Her interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health, and she is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world.
Dr. Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation, 1998-2004. In her capacity as NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. One of her major interests include K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering.
Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. Government, nonprofit science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. She is a nationally-respected scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 17 books and more than 750 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film, Invisible Seas, and has served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals.
Before going to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University Maryland. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990.
Dr. Colwell has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and also as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, and the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the Royal Society of Canada, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She is Immediate Past-President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
Dr. Colwell has also been awarded 55 honorary degrees from institutions of higher education, including her Alma Mater, Purdue University and is the recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, bestowed by the Emperor of Japan, the 2006 National Medal of Science awarded by the President of the United States, and the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize awarded by the King of Sweden. Dr. Colwell is an honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, Australia, France, Israel, Bangladesh, Czechoslovakia, Royal Irish Academy, and the U.S. and has held several honorary professorships, including the University of Queensland, Australia. A geological site in Antarctica, Colwell Massif, has been named in recognition of her work in the polar regions.
Ambassador Thomas Pickering, whose devotion to public service is highlighted through his 30 year career in the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service, where he holds the title of Career Ambassador.
Pickering joined Hills & Company as their Vice Chairman in December 2006. Hills & Company assists U.S. businesses to expand their trade and investment interests abroad, both in developed markets and in emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.
After retiring from the State Department in 2000, Pickering joined the Boeing Company as Senior Vice President, International Relations and member of the Executive Council, where he was responsible for the company's relations with foreign governments and the globalization of Boeing.
Pickering served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1997-2000). Prior to that, he served briefly as the president of the Eurasia Foundation, a Washington-based organization that makes small grants and loans in the states of the former Soviet Union.
In a diplomatic career spanning five decades, he has served as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Pickering also served on assignments in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. From 1989 to 1992, he served as Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations in New York. He also served as Executive Secretary of the Department of State and Special Assistant to Secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger from 1973 to 1974.
Pickering entered on active duty in the US Navy from 1956-1959, and later served in the Naval Reserve to the grade of Lieutenant Commander. Between 1959 and 1961, he served in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the State Department, in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and from 1962 to 1964 in Geneva as political adviser to the US Delegation to the 18-Nation Disarmament Conference.
Pickering received a bachelor's degree, cum laude, with high honours in history, from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1953. In 1954, he received a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Melbourne in Australia, and received a second master's degree in 1956. In 1984, he was awarded an honorary doctor-in-laws degree from Bowdoin College, and has received similar honors from 12 other universities.
In 1983 and in 1986, Pickering won the Distinguished Presidential Award and, in 1996, the Department of State's highest award - the Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks French, Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian.