Nov. 6, 2002

Andrew Fraknoi Awarded
2002 Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization

SETI Institute Board member, Andrew Fraknoi has been named recipient of the 2002 Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization by Wonderfest, the Bay Area Festival of Science. Underwritten by Annual Reviews as a tribute to their President and Editor-in-Chief Samuel Gubins, the prize, including a cash gift of $5,000, was presented to Fraknoi earlier this month.

“The award celebrates Mr. Fraknoi’s outstanding devotion to bringing the wonders of scientific inquiry to the public,” said Wonderfest Director Tucker Hiatt. Wonderfest is an annual teacher and public education program in science.

Fraknoi, of San Francisco, is an award-winning science educator and a scientist who is nationally known for his skill in interpreting astronomical discoveries and ideas in everyday language. Radio and television audiences have enjoyed his sense of humor and clear explanations on many local and national programs for more than 25 years.

Fraknoi serves on the SETI Institute’s Board of Trustees where he is highly valued for his contributions in the areas of outreach and his assistance with strategic partnerships between the Institute and other astronomy organizations.

As chairman of the Astronomy Program at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, he teaches popular courses on introductory astronomy and "physics for poets." More than 900 students enroll in his courses each year. Fraknoi has given more than 400 public lectures on such topics as: Is There Worthwhile Real Estate (and Are There Real Estate Agents) on Other Worlds?, What Were the Atoms in Your Body Doing 8 Billion Years Ago & Why Should You Care? and Why Falling into a Black Hole is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience.

For 14 years, Fraknoi served as the executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, an international scientific and educational organization founded in 1889. He was also editor of its popular magazine, Mercury, and its newsletter for teachers, The Universe in the Classroom. During this time, he organized national workshops to help elementary school teachers teach astronomical ideas, and founded Project ASTRO, a program that brings professional and amateur astronomers into classrooms.

A prolific author, Fraknoi has edited two collections of science articles and science fiction stories for Bantam Books, and is the lead author of Voyages through the Universe (1997, 2000, Harcourt Brace), which has become one of the leading introductory astronomy textbooks in the world. He is also editor of a two-volume teaching guide called The Universe at Your Fingertips—one of the most widely used astronomy education resources in North America.

Fraknoi is a frequent guest on local and national news and talk programs, including regular appearances on KGO and KSFO in the Bay Area, and KQED in Los Angeles where he is the "astronomer-in-residence" on the syndicated Mark & Brian Show. Nationally, he has been heard regularly on Science Friday, Weekend All Things Considered, and Sounds Like Science on National Public Radio. Television appearances include The Today Show, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live and The Pat Sajak Show.

Fraknoi is also a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), specializing in debunking astrology. Recently, he was re-appointed to the prestigious American Astronomical Society Education Board.

Educated at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, he has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, Cañada College, and several campuses of the University of California Extension Division.
In 1994, Fraknoi received the Annenberg Foundation Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the highest honor in the field of astronomy education, as well as the Klumpke-Roberts Prize of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which is given for a lifetime of contributions to popularizing astronomy.

Asteroid 4859 has been named Asteroid Fraknoi by the International Astronomical Union to honor his work in sharing the excitement of modern astronomy with students, teachers, and the public.

For more information about the award, access www.wonderfest.org.
For more information about the Foothill College Astronomy Program, access www.foothill.edu/ast/astclass.html.