The Alan J. Friedman Center For The Development Of Young Scientists

Dr. Alan Friedman, former director of the New York Hall of Science and CAISE Co-PI and Senior Advisor, served as an inspiration and mentor to many professionals in our field. To honor his memory, the Noyce Foundation has made a $500,000 grant to the New York Hall of Science to establish the Alan J. Friedman Center for the Development of Young Scientists. This new Center will encompass the Hall’s Science Career Ladder program, originally established by Dr. Friedman, and the more recently launched Science Career Ladder Institute. The Center will continue Dr. Friedman’s vision to provide opportunities in science for high school and college students through discovery, mentorship, career preparation, networking, field trips, and research-methods training. The Noyce Foundation is also offering a $250,000 matching challenge for those in the community who wish to support this new Center. You may make a donation to the Center on the New York Hall of Science website.

Many in the informal science education (ISE) community, and beyond, have shared their memories of Dr. Friedman. The Lawrence Hall of Science, where Dr. Friedman was the Director of Physics and Astronomy and founder of the William K. Holt Planetarium, has created a memorial webpage for Dr. Friedman and posted a series of video interviews with him from 2008. The videos provide a glimpse of Dr. Friedman’s work and the influence he has had on the lives of countless museum visitors, ISE professionals, and lovers of science.