NCSE's Scott to be honored by Mizzou
NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott is to receive an honorary degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, on May 15, 2010, in recognition of her achievements in defending the teaching of evolution in the public schools. According to a May 4, 2010, press release from the university:
Scott has served as the executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) since 1987. Under her leadership, NCSE has become the most influential organization in the battle over how evolution is taught in the United States. ... Over the course of her career, Scott has become the leading critic of creationism and intelligent design in the United States and a relentless advocate for the preservation of teaching evolution in schools.
The honorary degree will be her seventh; she received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from McGill University in 2003, the Ohio State University in 2005, Mount Holyoke College and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, in 2006; Rutgers University in 2007; and the University of New Mexico in 2008.
The honor is especially meaningful for Scott, since she is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she earned her Ph.D. in physical anthropology with a dissertation on dental evolution in pre-Columbian Peru. She previously received the university's distinguished alumni award in 1993.