NSF PR 02-40 - May 9, 2002
President Bush Names 15 to Receive National Medal
of Science
Six biologists among laureates
named for lifetime honor
Fourteen scientists and one engineer today were named
by President Bush to receive the National Medal of
Science, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement
in fields of scientific research. The honorees will
receive the medals at a White House ceremony on June
12. Thirteen of these premier researchers received
funding support from the National Science Foundation
(NSF) during their careers. The president also announced
the recipients of the National Medal of Technology.
"Each one of these individuals has helped advance our
country's place as a leader in discovery, creativity
and technology," the president said. "Their contributions
have touched all of our lives and will continue to
do so."
Six of those named to receive the science medal have
made lasting and continuing contributions to a burgeoning
list of discoveries and technology breakthroughs in
the biological sciences. Four have pioneered in studies
of genetics -- a rapidly expanding area of research
which has been bolstered by their discoveries. Francisco
J. Ayala of the University of California, Irvine revolutionized
molecular biology in the study of the origins of species.
Mario R. Capecchi of the University of Utah School
of Medicine developed new tools that revolutionized
the study of mammalian genetics and provided important
new models for human genetic diseases. Victor A. McKusick
of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
was largely responsible for bringing genetics into
the mainstream of clinical medicine, and one of the
first to push for the Human Genome Project. Harold
Varmus is well-known for his Nobel Prize-winning discovery,
with J. Michael Bishop, chancellor of the University
of California in San Francisco, that normal human
and animal cells contain genes capable of becoming
cancer genes, which led to an aggressive and successful
search for genetic origins of cancer by the scientific
community. Varmus is now president of Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center in New York City after serving as director
of the National Institutes of Health for six years.
The other laureates in biological sciences have done
ground-breaking work on the brain and the environment,
and how they affect our daily lives. Ann M. Graybiel
of M.I.T. did pioneering work on the functional anatomy
and physiology of the brain systems involved in disorders
such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and
obsessive compulsive disorder. Gene E. Likens of the
Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.,
documented for the first time in North America the
environmental consequences of the phenomenon known
as acid rain.
George F. Bass of Texas A&M University is receiving
the Medal of Science in behavioral and social sciences
for fathering underwater archaeology after publishing
the first complete excavation findings of an ancient
shipwreck.
In chemistry, honorees include Ernest R. Davidson of
Indiana University, whose studies changed our understanding
of the nature of matter. Gabor A. Somorjai of the
University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley
National Lab is honored as the world's leading authority
in the development of modern surface science, having
established the molecular foundation of many surface-based
technologies.
In engineering, Andreas Acrivos of City College, City
University of New York, is honored for helping establish
the field of suspension mechanics, relevant to oil
production and semiconductor manufacturing processes.
Two mathematicians receiving the medal are Calyampudi
R. Rao of Pennsylvania State University, who led the
theoretical work toward the foundations of statistics,
and Elias M. Stein of Princeton University, who greatly
influenced the shaping of mathematical analysis fields.
Marvin L. Cohen, Raymond Davis, Jr., and Charles D.
Keeling are honored in the physical sciences. Cohen,
from the University of California, Berkeley, has had
a major impact on semiconductor technology through
his work in materials science. Davis, Jr., while at
Brookhaven National Laboratory, was the first scientist
to measure the flux of neutrinos from the sun that
are responsible for energy generation in the sun.
Charles D. Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
in San Diego pioneered studies on the impact of the
carbon cycle to changes in climate, collecting some
of the most important data in the study of global
climate change.
" Their contributions to the world around us are enormous.
Their ideas have led to major breakthroughs in human
health and the tools evolving from their research
have put the U.S. in the forefront of many new industries,"
NSF Director Rita Colwell explained. " We are proud
of these extraordinary people - and grateful for their
unceasing inquisitiveness, creativity and dedication
to obtain new knowledge for the good of all humankind."
NSF administers the National Medal of Science for the
White House. Congress established the National Medal
of Science in 1959. The 2001 awards bring to 401 the
total number of science medals awarded since their
inception.
For more information, see:
For more information on National Medals of Science,
see also: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/nms
For information on National Medals of Technology,
see: http://www.ta.doc.gov/medal
Also see: http://www.nationalmedals.org
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