Kendrick Frazier | |
|---|---|
 Frazier atCSICon 2011 | |
| Born | (1942-03-19)March 19, 1942 Windsor, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | November 7, 2022(2022-11-07) (aged 80) |
| Education | BAUniversity of Colorado, 1964 MSColumbia University, 1966 |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, editor |
| Children | 2; includingMichele |
 Problems playing this file? Seemedia help. | |
Kendrick Crosby Frazier (March 19, 1942 – November 7, 2022) was an American science writer and longtime editor ofSkeptical Inquirer magazine. He was also a former editor ofScience News, author or editor of ten books, and a Fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was a fellow and a member of the executive council ofCommittee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), an international organization that promotesscientific inquiry.[1]
Frazier wrote extensively about a variety ofscience topics including astronomy, space exploration, the earth and planetary sciences, archaeology, technology, the history andphilosophy of science, public issues of science, and thecritical examination ofpseudoscience andfringe science.
Frazier received aB.A. in Journalism from theUniversity of Colorado and aM.S. in Journalism fromColumbia University.[2] He was a member of theNational Association of Science Writers and theAmerican Geophysical Union.[3]
Frazier lived with his wife, Ruth, inAlbuquerque, New Mexico. She is an international consultant in community development and a former president (1974–1997) of Futures for Children, an organization which works withAmerican Indians of the Southwest.[4] They have a son, Chris; their daughter, Michele akaLady Ganga, died February 5, 2012, fromcervical cancer,2+1⁄2 months after completing a 700-mile expedition (called Starry Ganga)standup paddleboarding down theGanges River in India to spread awareness about cervical cancer and itspreventability and treatment.[5]
Frazier died on November 7, 2022, at the age of 80.[6]
Frazier was the earth sciences editor ofScience News in 1969–70. He was named managing editor in 1970–71, then editor from 1971 to 1977, and remained a contributing editor until 1981. In December 1973 he traveled toAntarctica and theSouth Pole and wrote a series of articles reporting on the historic U.S. research into the continent's geologic and climatic history and the environmental impact of such research.[7][8][9]
In 1976 Frazier reported on the organizing conference at which the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, CSICOP, was founded.[10] In a discussion withJames Randi atCSICon 2016 regarding the founding of CSICOP, Frazier said thatIsaac Asimov being associated with the organization "gave it immense status and authority" in his eyes.[11]: 13:00
The committee published a journal calledThe Zetetic featuring articles examining the claims of occultism and pseudoscientific theories. In August 1977 Frazier became the editor of the journal, and with the first issue of 1978 its name was changed to theSkeptical Inquirer.[12]
Frazier wrote articles in every issue for thirty-five years and participated in every national and international conference of the organization since 1977. Examples of his recent editor's columns and reports that feature popular science topics include "The Winter of Our Discontent" (about attacks onclimate science),[13] "Why theBem Experiments Are Not Parapsychology's Next Big Thing",[14] "Getting People Emotionally Invested",[15] and "TheRoswell Syndrome....and Pseudoskepticism".[16] His comprehensive history of CSICOP was published inThe Encyclopedia of the Paranormal.[17]
From 1983 to 2006, he concurrently worked as a full-time staff member atSandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he wrote about its research projects and for the last 11 years edited its award-winning newspaper, the Sandia Lab News.[18][19] He retired as a Principal Member of Laboratory Staff.
One of Frazier's later books,Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience, was featured by Science News for its "engaging, insightful, and often surprising essays by researchers and journalists" about "what science is and is not, and what happens when the facts get twisted."[20] Three prominent scientists gave testimonials about the book. Astrophysicist and authorNeil deGrasse Tyson wrote "Science Under Siege is a welcome antidote to the profound science illiteracy that, today, permeates American pop culture and the press."Harvard University cognitive scientist and authorSteven Pinker called the book "An entertaining and eye-opening collection of essays that advance the battle against ignorance and superstition."Williams College astronomerJay M. Pasachoff said "Ken Frazier's collection brings a well-chosen selection of logical and well-reasoned pieces before a general audience that would enjoy and benefit from their analyses and exposés."[citation needed]
In 1985 the University of Colorado presented him with theGeorge Norlin Award for outstanding achievement by an alumnus.[21]
TheAmerican Humanist Association awarded Frazier the Humanist Pioneer Award in 1995 for his "effective worldwide advancement of rational skepticism".[22]
Frazier received the In Praise of Reason Award, the highest honor from the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal in 2001.[23] The award is given in recognition of distinguished contributions in the use of critical inquiry, scientific evidence, and reason in evaluating claims to knowledge. Other recipients of this award includeCarl Sagan,Murray Gell-Mann,Stephen Jay Gould,Martin Gardner,Ray Hyman and Nobel laureate physicistLeon Lederman.
Frazier was elected a Fellow of the AAAS in 2005 for his "distinguished contributions to the public understanding of science through writing for and editing popular science magazines that emphasize science news and scientific reasoning and methods."[24][25]
He was awarded CSI's Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking at the 2024CSICon convention. His widow Ruth Frazier accepted the award.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
