2009 John P. McGovern Science and Society Award
David Michaels is the Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). Michaels formerly served as a research professor and interim chairman in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, where he directs the department's doctoral program. Michaels' work has focused on the use of science in public policy. He directs The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (www.DefendingScience.org), bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scientists to examine the use and misuse of science in two forums in which public policy is shaped. He is the author of Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health, as well as numerous journal articles. Michaels served as the U.S. Department of Energy's assistant secretary for environment, safety and health from 1998-2001. He had primary responsibility for protecting the health and safety of workers, the neighboring communities and the environment surrounding the nation's nuclear weapons facilities. He was the chief architect of the historic initiative to compensate workers in the nuclear weapons complex who developed cancer or lung disease as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium and other hazards. His many honors include the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, the American Public Health Association's David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health and the Department of Energy's Meritorious Service Award.