Intel Chairman Craig R. Barrett to Receive the National Science Board’s Public Service Award

Influence on national policy and encouragement to a new generation of scientists and engineers cited

In 1998, Craig R. Barrett set the tone for his style of leadership in his very first act as chief executive of the computer giant, the Intel Corporation.

Barrett, now Intel's chairman, and a materials scientist with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, announced that Intel would become chief sponsor of the prestigious Science Talent Search, a 65-year-old nationwide competition among high school seniors many call the “junior Nobel,” formerly supported by Westinghouse. Barrett led the program into a new generation with his own passion for education, initiating large increases in scholarship awards and other prizes to the winners. Under Barrett, Intel has increased monetary awards for the Science Talent Search. The top scholarship was raised to $100,000, and laptops are provided to the 40 finalists. And to help encourage interest in science, engineering and mathematics, Intel added a $1,000 prize for each of the 300 semifinalists, and $1,000 to each of the schools these students represent.

Today, the National Science Board honored Barrett with its 2006 Public Service Award for his leadership in science and engineering policy and for spearheading education programs that provide impetus for a new generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals. Barrett will accept the honor at a May 9 awards dinner at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The Science Board also named renowned actor, director, producer and PBS television science program host Alan Alda for an individual 2006 Public Service Award and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), a major supporter and representative of science centers and museums worldwide, for an organizational award.

The Science Board initiated the Public Service Award in 1996 as a way to annually recognize individuals and organizations for their wide-ranging work to increase public understanding of science. The first honorees were named in 1998.

Today's announcement brings the total number of Public Service Award recipients to 10 individuals and 10 organizations.

The Science Talent Search may be one of the best-known of Intel’s education efforts, but it is by no means the only one. Under Craig Barrett’s leadership, in fact, the company now pursues educational improvement in over 50 countries around the world and invests approximately $100 million per year in programs to improve science and mathematics education.

The company’s focus on higher standards, hands-on learning and results-oriented education through improved teaching and teacher development programs reflects Barrett's approach to business leadership.

In 1997, Intel became the title sponsor of the International Science and Engineering Fair, a competition that now includes 1,400 students from around the world. Science Service, a nonprofit organization supporting science education through publications, programs and competitions, administers the Intel Science Talent Search and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Another initiative begun with Barrett's leadership is the Intel® Teach to the Future program to help teachers integrate effective use of technology into their classrooms and curricula. More than 3 million teachers have been trained to date.

Barrett also initiated the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, an after-school, community-based technology learning program that helps underserved youth to acquire tools necessary for them to succeed in the 21st century. There are more than 100 clubhouses in 22 countries.

On a national policy level, Barrett, as co-chair of the National Alliance for Business' Business Coalition for Excellence in Education, successfully harnessed support among business leaders to get increased federal funding for enhanced programs on teacher quality and to improve mathematics and science education under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Barrett also supported a unique effort that focused on developing internationally competitive benchmarks for K-12 math that, if met, will prepare students well for the demands of postsecondary education and the workplace. The Mathematics Achievement Partnership (MAP) was part of a larger effort among a bi-partisan group of governors and corporate CEOs to encourage nationwide strengthening of academic standards, better testing and more accountability for performance of students to push them toward higher achievement.

Shortly after becoming Intel CEO in 1998, Barrett's leadership was also prominent in work with The Glenn Commission, which sought ways to improve mathematics and science education in order for a new generation of Americans to be successful and competitive in a global economy.

Public Service Award recipients are chosen for their contributions to public service in areas beyond research, such as: increasing the public's understanding of the scientific process and its communication; contributing to the development of broad science and engineering policy; and promoting, through public outreach, the importance of science and technology, and fostering this awareness among broad segments of the population.

Recipients are also chosen for helping to engage scientists and engineers in public outreach and scientific literacy, and in influencing and encouraging the next generation of potential scientists and engineers. Achieving recognition outside the nominee's area of specialization is also among the criteria.

The Science Board is an independent 24-member body of policy advisors to the President and Congress on matters of science and engineering research, and is the policy making and oversight body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent federal agency that supports almost all areas of fundamental research, and science and engineering education nationwide.

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