The New York Science Fiction Society - the Lunarians, Inc. has bestowed its annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Award on John Noble Wilford. The award honors those who have contributed significantly to increasing the public knowledge and understanding of science through writing, and who exemplify the personal qualities which made the late Dr. Asimov admired and well-loved.

Mr. Wilford is a science correspondent and director of science news at the NY Times, whose writing, prominently featured in its Science Section, covers astronomy, cosmology, archeology, anthropology and paleontology. He received his first Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his national reporting of science topics, and he shared the Prize in 1987 with other Times reporters for their team effort in reporting on the Challenger explosion and its aftermath. He received two awards from the Aviation-Space Writers Association, the G.M. Loeb Achievement Award from the University of Connecticut, the National Space Club Press Award, the Westinghouse Science Writing Award, and two honorary doctorates. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer at Princeton, Syracuse, Duke, Yale & the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In addition to reporting, Wilford has been author, co-author or editor of 8 books, including Cosmic Dispatches, Mars Beckons, We Reach the Moon, The Riddle of the Dinosaur, The Mapmakers and The Mysterious History of Columbus.

The Award is a tribute to Dr. Asimov's lifelong contribution to the fields of Science Fiction and Science Fact, and is presented (or announced) at the organization's annual conference, Lunacon, Previous recipients of this Award are Hal Clement (Harry Stubbs), Frederik Pohl, Dr. Ben Bova, Dr. Stephen Hawking, Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, Dr. Michio Kaku, Dr. Charles Sheffield, Dr. Charles Pellegrino, Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani) and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The Award features a Frank Kelly Freas' portrait of Dr. Asimov on a medallion which is embedded in a Lucite pyramid on a dark wooden base. The design was approved by Dr. Janet Jeppson Asimov.

Lunacon 2005 will be held Friday through Sunday, March 18-20, 2005 at the Sheraton Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ.

Posted March 18, 2005