Golden Goose Award

The Golden Goose Award is a United States award in recognition of scientists whose federally funded basic research has led to innovations or inventions with significant impact on humanity or society. Created by Congressman Jim Cooper of Tennessee in 2012, recipients receive the award in a ceremony during the fall each year on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

Background
Between 1975 and 1988, William Proxmire, a Democratic United States Senator for Wisconsin awarded the tongue-in-cheek Golden Fleece Awards to public officials for spending public money in ways he considered irresponsible or wasteful. These awards were often given to scientists working on seemingly obscure federally funded scientific studies causing ridicule and scrutiny of the usefulness of such research.

The Golden Goose Awards were established over two decades later in order to highlight the value of federally-funded basic research. With the Golden Goose Award, Cooper wanted to reverse the image created by Proxmire's award by highlighting examples of seemingly obscure studies that have led to major breakthroughs and resulted in significant societal impact. The award has bipartisan support in Congress, sponsored by multiple organizations and legislators.

<!--The purpose of the award has also been described as follows:

"Such innovation has been critically important to economic growth in the United States, and will be even more so as global scientific research becomes increasingly competitive".

"Ever since the days of the Golden Fleece Awards, spearheaded by the late Senator William Proxmire, some policymakers have delighted in turning quirky or unusual research titles into a punch line".

"The United States may now risk falling behind in scientific discoveries as other countries increase their science funding. We need to get serious about science".

The burgeoning research has often had odd-sounding names. Since the 1970s such titles were the subject of ridicule by the late Senator William Proxmire and his monthly Golden Fleece Awards. For example, with his first Golden Fleece Award in March 1975, Senator Proxmire directly ridiculed a National Science Foundation study on why people fall in love.

Another study entitled "Acoustic Trauma in the Guinea Pig Cochlea" has resulted in a treatment for hearing loss in infants. Other research funded by U.S. federal agencies have led to widely used technologies such as laser technology, the internet, fiber optics, the Global Positioning System, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer touch screens and lithium-ion batteries.

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Founding organizations
Some of the twelve founding organizations for this award are the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A۰P۰L۰U), the Breakthrough Institute, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), and The Science Coalition (TSC)