THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2004--Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, today announced a call for nominations for its 14th annual Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence. This award is designed to recognize and honor extraordinary science teachers, grades K-12 in communities where Amgen operates, who significantly impact their students through exemplary science teaching and who achieve demonstrated results in student learning.
A longstanding leader in commitment to science education, Amgen established the teacher awards program to promote and encourage science excellence in public and private schools. Since the program's inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded more than one million dollars to educators who have made exceptional science-teaching contributions and who have had a measurable impact on the lives of their students. This year, Amgen will honor a total of 19 teachers in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington and Puerto Rico.
"We are proud to honor educators for their critical role in encouraging and inspiring students through innovative science-education programs -- and equally proud to support schools in their efforts to expand science resources," said Marie Kennedy, Amgen's vice president of Corporate Communications.
The 15 selected winners within the United States will receive the following benefits:
In Puerto Rico, four teachers will be honored, each receiving an unrestricted cash award of $2,500 and a restricted $2,500 cash grant.
A panel of independent judges will select the winners based on the following criteria: creativity of teaching method; effectiveness in the classroom; motivational ability; instructional ability; and the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools.
Those interested in nominating an outstanding teacher should visit http://www.amgen.com/teacherawards for more information. Nominations must be postmarked by January 31, 2005 to be valid. Winners will be notified in April 2005.
About Amgen
Amgen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets important human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology.
CONTACT:
Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks
Mary Klem, 805-447-4587 (media)
SOURCE: Amgen Inc.