Congrats Sergio Verdú – winner of the 2016 NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing

Liz Allen Awards, News

Annual Reviews is a non-profit publisher of highly-cited reviews that synthesize the research literature in clear and compelling style to stimulate discussion about the science that shapes our lives.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award for Scientific Reviewing was established in 1977 through a gift from Annual Reviews together with the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), now part of Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property & Science, in honor of our founder J. Murray Luck – we are proud to currently sponsor it entirely.

This prestigious award – two recipients have gone on to win the National Medal of Science and another two the Nobel Prize – has been presented annually since 1979 to recognize authors, whose reviews have synthesized extensive and difficult material, rendering a significant service to science and influencing the course of scientific thought. The field rotates among biological, physical, and social sciences.

The NAS dome depicts an early 20th Century view of Science. Photo credit: Dan W Bailey.

We’re delighted that Sergio Verdú, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, will receive the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing on May 1st 2016 at their stunning building in Washington D.C., presented this year in computer science. Our President and Editor-In-Chief, Richard Gallagher (current) and Samuel Gubins (former) will attend the ceremony. 

Sergio won “For consistent and distinguished contributions of review material in information theory, and for a leading role in developing high-quality review journals covering broad areas of the information sciences”. He is a leader in information theory, has contributed numerous books, monographs, book chapters, and review papers, many of which have become essential reading for those working in information and communication theory.

This award serves to highlight the value that review articles add to the research community. Reading one is like being transported into the laboratory of the leading scientists in the area, who explain what’s going on in the field. Readers come away with a richer understanding than they could gain in any other way and this is why Annual Reviews is a treasured resource.

Note: The 2017 NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing will be for contributions in the field of Criminology. Nominations must be submitted online no later than 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, October 3, 2016, so register today and share your pick.