UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State, received the 2019 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics during a ceremony at Villanova University on April 11. Presented by the Villanova University Ethics Program, the award recognizes a professional or academic who shows the highest ethical ideals of their profession or who has contributed to professional ethics scholarship.
A recognized expert on climate change, Mann received the award for his significant contributions to climate science and communication and advocacy efforts.
“The Ethics Program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recognizes Dr. Mann for his professional courage, his scientific work, his commitment to defend science against those who seek to politicize the findings of science, and his recognition that scientists do their work in the context of a global and independent reality,” said Mark Doorley, director of the Villanova University Ethics Program. “We need science in order to navigate the challenges of that reality; and we need scientists to speak up, as Professor Mann has done — and continues to do — in the present moment.”
Mann has received numerous honors and awards for his work and communication efforts. In 2018 he received the Award for Public Engagement with Science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Climate Communication Prize from the American Geophysical Union. Most recently, he was named co-recipient of the 2019 Tyler Prize, the premier international award for environmental science.
Mann holds joint appointments in Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and Department of Geosciences. He received his undergraduate degrees in physics and applied math from the University of California at Berkeley, and his master’s degree in physics and doctorate in geology and geophysics from Yale University.