1997 Honorary Member
As Science Editor of Consumer Reports, David Ansley is responsible for the magazine’s coverage of health, medicine, and the environment and the coordination of the magazine’s reports with the technical, advocacy, television, public information and health newsletter divisions. Ansley earned his bachelor’s degree (with distinction) in communication at Stanford University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Stanford Daily in spring of 1978. Following graduation, he served internships with The San Jose Mercury Newsand with columnist Jack Anderson before joining the Casper (WY) Star-Tribune as a Reporter and Assigning Editor. He returned toThe San Jose Mercury News in 1981 as Copy Editor, then Science and Medicine Editor, and finally as Medical Writer for the newspaper. In 1993 he was named Acting Director of the Knight Science Fellowships at MIT where he served until September 1994 when he joined the staff of Consumer Reports. While at The San Jose Mercury News, Ansley’s ten-part series on the health care crisis and its many causes won the American Medical Association’s 1993 Medical Reporting Award in the large-newspaper category. He also wrote news and feature stories on medical research, health insurance, health-care delivery, consumer advice, and public health for the newspaper. Other feature articles by Ansley have appeared in New Scientist, Technology Review, Science, Discover, and The Scientist. In addition to his award from the AMA, Ansley has also been honored for his articles by the California Medical Association and the American Heart Association’s California Division; he also was a contributor to The San Jose Mercury News’ entry that won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize in general reporting for coverage of the Loma Priesta earthquake. For his services to science, Ansley was elected by the Society’s Board of Directors as the twenty-third Honorary member of Sigma Xi.