Volume 49, Number 1, Spring 2000

DAVID PERLMAN IS 1ST JOURNALIST TO RECEIVE UCSF MEDAL

David Perlman

San Francisco Chronicle Science Editor David Perlman has been named one of four winners of this year's UCSF Medal--the first time a journalist has been awarded the University of California, San Francisco's highest honor. Perlman was singled out for four decades of distinguished reporting on medicine and a wide range of scientific subjects. The award was presented on March 22 in San Francisco.

Perlman, who started covering science about 1960, is recognized nationally for his careful reporting and a clear, fluid writing style that has served as a model to hundreds of science writers.

"The communication of what science is all about is vital, and David has been doing that brilliantly for his entire career," said UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop. "I can't think of a more appropriate individual to honor. His work is accurate, readable--and there's a passion in the guy for science."

The award selection committee said it viewed Perlman as "an educator in his own right."

"His activities as a science reporter improve the public's basic understanding of the mechanisms of disease and the social interactions related to human health," said committee chairwoman Dr. Dorothy Bainton, UCSF academic vice chancellor. Perlman's colleagues also had high praise.

"Dave Perlman is the dean of American science writers," said Matthew F. Wilson, executive editor of the Chronicle. His winning this award makes us feel doubly honored--first by having him on our staff and second by the award itself."

(Source: San Francisco Chronicle news story.)