Andrew “Chick” Ahlgren, a former associate director of the Project 2061 scientific-literacy initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, died April 23 at the age of 70. He had suffered a severe stroke several years ago.
With F. James Rutherford, the director of the project, Mr. Ahlgren wrote the landmark 1990 book Science for All Americans, which explored scientific literacy in modern society and the steps the United States could take to begin to improve the teaching of science, mathematics, and technology. In 1994, he helped produce Benchmarks for Science Literacy, which elaborated on the first book’s recommendations.
Mr. Ahlgren was also a high school physics teacher, a key member of Harvard University’s Project Physics team during the 1960s, and a professor of education and physics at the University of Minnesota.
