The National Academy of Sciences is to honor NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott with its most prestigious award, the Public Welfare Medal. According to a January 11, 2010, press release, "the medal is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good"; Scott was chosen "for championing the teaching of evolution in the United States and for providing leadership to the National Center for Science Education." She will receive the award on April 25, 2010, during the Academy's 147th annual meeting.

The president of the National Academy of Sciences, Ralph J. Cicerone, commented, "Eugenie Scott has worked tirelessly and very effectively to improve public understanding of both the nature of science and the science of evolution," and the chair of the Public Welfare Medal selection committee, John Brauman, added, "We honor her for many years of organizing coalitions of scientists, parents, teachers, business people, clergy, and others to defend the teaching of evolution."

"I am profoundly honored by the National Academy's choice of me to receive the Public Welfare Medal," Scott said. "Really, it honors not just my work, and not just the work of the National Center for Science Education. Rather, it honors the work of a host of dedicated, thoughtful, and passionate people who have labored in defense of the teaching of evolution in the public schools. I have been privileged to work with them over the years, and I am proud to accept the award on their behalf."

Previous recipients of the medal include Neal Lane, Norman Borlaug, William T. Golden, Maxine F. Singer, C. Everett Koop, and Carl Sagan. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and provides science, technology, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.