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| Doron Weber | |
Doron Weber, vice-president and program director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will receive the 2018 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, given by the National Book Foundation to honor a "lifetime of achievement in expanding the audience for books and reading." Weber will receive the award at the 69th National Book Awards ceremony and benefit dinner on November 14.
The National Book Foundation said that Weber, who has run the Sloan Foundation's program for Public Understanding of Science, Technology & Economics for more than 20 years, has "helped commission, produce, and distribute media that connect the public with science in accessible and illuminating ways." With Weber at the helm, the program has provided "tens of millions of dollars in grant money" to help see books like Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, Jared Diamond's Collapse and Richard Rhodes's Hedy's Folly get published. (Shetterly, in fact, will present the award to Weber on November 14.)
David Steinberger, chairman of the board of the National Book Foundation, said: "We could not be prouder to recognize the unique and vital work of Doron Weber. For more than two decades at Sloan, Weber has worked passionately and tirelessly to connect readers with exceptional storytelling that is able to distill the enormity of our world into engaging, illuminating narratives."
Executive director Lisa Lucas said: "At the National Book Foundation, we believe that the scope of literature is expansive; that it can and should open up entirely new worlds to its readers. Doron Weber is that principle in action. Firmly committed to the marriage of science and art, Weber has spent his career working to meet readers where they are, connecting them in creative ways to new ideas and modes of thinking."