Hutchison wins national science-education award

Dr. Nancy Hutchison, director of the Science Education Partnership (SEP) and HutchLab, is the 2003 winner of the Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB).

SEP, which Hutchison founded in 1991 in colla-boration with local teachers, is a professional development program for secondary school science teachers throughout the state of Washington. In 1999, Hutchison helped create HutchLab, a sister program to give high school students exposure to biomedical research at the center.

Since its inception, SEP has provided professional development opportunities for more than 250 teachers. More than 100,000 students around the state have conducted classroom experiments with DNA thanks to the program's successful kit-loan program. SEP, which receives major financial support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the center, was in 1998 awarded the KCTS Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education.

Dr. Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, is widely recognized for his commitment to improve science education through partnerships of higher education institutions and local school systems.

Hutchison will receive the Alberts Award during the ASCB annual meeting, Dec. 13-17, in San Francisco.