Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest is presented to Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Science Friday

The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest was created to honor the memory of William A. Nierenberg, who was Director of UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography for 21 years.  A bronze medal and a $25,000 prize are awarded each year for outstanding contributions to science in the public interest.  The award was created and is supported by gifts from the Nierenberg family.

Previous Nierenberg Prize winners include:  Harvard Naturalist E.O. Wilson in 2001, Newsman Walter Cronkite in 2002, Marine Ecologist Jane Lubchenco in 2003, Primatologist Dame Jane Goodall in 2004, Nature Filmmaker Sir David Attenborough in 2005, Technology Innovator Gordon Moore in 2006, Genomics Pioneer J. Craig Venter in 2007, Climate Researcher James Hansen in 2008, and Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins in 2009.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography's tenth Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest will be awarded to Ira Flatow.  Mr. Flatow currently hosts and produces National Public Radio's award-winning weekly talk program about science Science Friday, now in its 18th year.   His numerous TV credits include six years as host and writer for the Emmy Award-winning Newton's Apple on PBS, and as science reporter for CBS's This Morning.