Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                              A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

                                            25-183

                   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                        March 5, 2024

To celebrate the achievements of District of Columbia scientists, recognize advancements in

       medical and technological fields, honor teachers who inspire the next generation of

       scientists, and declare February 28, 2024, as “Science Teachers Matter Day” in the

       District of Columbia.

      WHEREAS, scientific progress in the field of medicine has improved the health

outcomes and quality of life for millions;

       WHEREAS, scientific innovations in the field of technology has enriched society through

the widespread sharing of ideas and cultures;

       WHEREAS, scientific advances in engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, and ecology

impact everyday life from the food we eat to how we get to work;

      WHEREAS, District of Columbia scientists have contributed to thousands of scientific

advancements;

        WHEREAS, District of Columbia teachers work daily to inspire students and encourage

their scientific curiosity;

       WHEREAS, in 1890, DC native Jane Eleanor “Nellie” Datcher became the first African-

American woman to earn an advanced degree from Cornell University and later worked as a

chemistry teacher at Dunbar High School in DC;

        WHEREAS, in 1923, DC native and conservationist Millicent Todd Bingham became the

first woman to receive a doctorate in geology and geography at Harvard University;

       WHEREAS, Robert Percy Barnes, a graduate of Dunbar High School, became the first

African American to graduate with a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University in 1933 and

worked in the chemistry department at Howard University for 46 years, including as the chair of

the department in the 1950s;

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       WHEREAS, Marguerite Thomas Williams, a graduate of Miner Teachers College, now

University of the District of Columbia, worked as a full-time school teacher while attending

Howard University before becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in geology in

at Catholic University in 1942;

        WHEREAS, in the 1960s, DC native Geoffrey Chew advanced a new theory of particle

interactions in the field of quantum physics;

      WHEREAS, in 1962, DC native Helen Marie Dyer received the Garvan-Olin Medal from

the American Chemical Society in recognition of her work in biochemistry and cancer research;

       WHEREAS, DC native Albert Francis Birch received the National Medal of Science in

1967 for his work on compressional wave velocities and geophysical research into the

composition of the Earth’s mantle;

       WHEREAS, DC resident Warren Wesley Buck III established a doctoral program in

physics at Hampton University in the 1980s, one of only five such programs at a historically

Black college or university;

       WHEREAS, DC resident LaSalle Leffall Jr. trained an estimated 6,000 future physicians

and surgeons at Howard University and served as the first African American president of both

the American Cancer Society in 1978 and the American College of Surgeons in 1995;

      WHEREAS, in 1995, DC native Virginia Holsinger received the Women in Science and

Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on lactose substitutes;

       WHEREAS, DC native Lucile Adams-Campbell, became the first African American to

receive a PhD in epidemiology in the United States and, in 1995, served as the Director of

Howard University’s Cancer Center, the only Black woman to lead a cancer institute at that time;

       WHEREAS, DC native Charlene Drew Jarvis obtained a PhD in neuropsychology from

the University of Maryland, served as a member of the DC Council from 1979 until 2000, and

became the first woman to be named president at Southeastern University in DC in 1996;

       WHEREAS, in 2004, DC native David Jonathan Gross received the Nobel Prize in

Physics for his work in quantum field theory;

      WHEREAS, in 2015 and 2017, DC native Richard Somerville received awards from the

American Geophysical Union and in 2022 received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award for his

work on climate change;

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      WHEREAS, in 2016, DC science teacher Jennifer Ramsey received the Presidential

Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching;

      WHEREAS, in 2020, life science teacher Justin Lopez-Cardoze was recognized as

Teacher of the Year by Mayor Muriel Bowser;

      WHEREAS, in 2020, K-6 science teacher Sheri Frierson-Chenier received a Presidential

Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching;

       WHEREAS, in 2023, the Association for Career and Technical Education recognized

Aris Pangilinan, STEM teacher at DC Public Schools, with the National ACTE Teacher of the

Year award;

        RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

resolution may be cited as the “Science Teachers Matter Day Resolution of 2024”.

        Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes and celebrates scientists for

their extraordinary contributions and honors the District teachers who are inspiring the next

generation of scientists.

       Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

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