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Dorothy Height

While the name Dorothy Height is recognizable, many of her accomplishments are not. Height, who died recently in 2010 at the age of 98, was a social rights activist, administrator, and educator. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at New York University, Height later became active in fighting for social injustices. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Also during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Height organized “Wednesdays in Mississippi” which brought together black and white women from the North and South to engage in dialogue about relevant social issues. Dorothy Height is quoted as saying “I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom…I want to be remembered as one who tried,”a motto she lived by until her death. While the name Dorothy He...

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson to receive the National Academy of Sciences’ most prestigious honor By  Rachel Feltman The National Academy of Sciences has announced that Neil deGrasse Tyson, most widely known for hosting the recent reboot of Carl Sagan’s popular science show “Cosmos,” will receive their most prestigious award at a ceremony this April. The Public Welfare Medal  was first presented in 1914 (when it went to two men integral to the Panama Canal building project) and is intended to  recognize those who work to promote science for the benefit of humanity . Tyson will be the first person to receive the award for his efforts in science communication to the general public since Sagan himself won in 1994. The two men are connected by more than their shared awards and TV styles: Back when Tyson was a high school student in the Bronx considering colleges, Sagan  wrote him a heartfelt invitation  to visit his lab at Cornell — one that Tyson accepted. He ende...