Karl S. Pister, chancellor emeritus of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received a prestigious international award from the World Technology Network (www.wtn.net) for his leadership in educational outreach.
Pister was appointed vice president of outreach to the K-12 system for the University of California after leaving UCSC in 1996. He received the individual 2002 World Technology Award for Policy at a gala event in New York City on July 22.
"To win a World Technology Award reflects the esteem in which peers hold your work--esteem not only for the technical brilliance of your efforts but for the broader impact those efforts will likely have on shaping the world in which we live," said James Clark, chairman and founder of the World Technology Network. "Through winning this World Technology Award, I am delighted to welcome Karl into the World Technology Network family."
Pister was honored for his work creating opportunities for educationally disadvantaged students.
"Most of my professional life has been devoted to teaching and research in engineering sciences," Pister said during the award presentation. "In due course I changed roles, serving as a dean of engineering, chancellor of a campus, and vice president of a university responsible for outreach to the K-12 school system. It was there that it became apparent that creating and implementing policy for education was substantially more challenging than solving technical problems."
Prior to his five-year tenure as chancellor at UCSC, Pister spent 45 years at UC Berkeley as a professor in the College of Engineering and as an academic administrator. He served as dean of the college from 1980 until 1990.
At UCSC, Pister was a tireless advocate for K-12 outreach, establishing the Monterey Bay Educational Consortium to foster collaboration between the campus and public schools and expanding outreach to the region's 13 community colleges. He also established a generous scholarship program that helps community college students transfer to UCSC.
The World Technology Network (WTN) award gives Pister admission into the network and access to its resources. During the ceremony, he was presented with a trophy created by designer Stefano Marzano, chief executive officer and chief creative director of Philips Design, who received the 2001 World Technology Award for Design.
Pister was selected as the result of a six-month selection process in which nominees were solicited from 100 leaders of technology-related fields and considered by the network's 430 voting members. Among those nominating individuals for the 2002 awards were representatives of academia, government, business, and nonprofits, including NASA, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Centre for the Management of Environmental Resources in France, Fujitsu Ltd., and Seoul National University.
Established four years ago, the World Technology Network brings together leading individuals and corporations from 20 disciplines to encourage innovation and the exchange of ideas. Specific disciplines include the arts, biotechnology, education, energy, environment, ethics, health, information technology, law, policy, and space.
The awards ceremony marked the final event of this year's two-day World Technology Summit, which took place at the Millennium Conference Center and United Nations headquarters. In addition to the annual summit, the World Technology Network publishes a journal and hosts an ongoing global series of roundtable dinners, chapter meetings, and other events.
