Fact Sheet Vital Information: Awardees of the 2001 National Medal of Science
May 21, 2002
Biological Sciences
| Chemistry | Mathematics
| Behavioral and Social Sciences
| Engineering | Physical
Sciences
Biological Sciences
Who: Francisco J. Ayala, Donald Bren Professor
of Biological Sciences,University of California, Irvine.
What: Ayala has revolutionized evolution theory
by pioneering molecular biology in the investigation
of evolutionary processes. His research has led to
a new understanding of the origin of species, the
pervasiveness of genetic diversity, the genetic structure
of populations and rates of evolution among other
concepts.
Ayala's biological discoveries have opened up new approaches
to the prevention and treatment of diseases that affect
hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. He
demonstrated that the reproduction of Trypanosoma
cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, is prevailingly
clonal , and that only a few clones account for most
of this widespread, mostly untreatable South American
disease that affects 16-18 million people, and opened
new approaches for the development of drug therapies
and vaccines for combating the disease.
Recently, Ayala reconstructed the evolution of the
four Plasmodium species that cause human malaria,
and discovered that three of them were originally
parasitic to other species, from which they were transmitted
to humans. P. falciparum causes malignant malaria,
a disease that debilitates several hundred million
people and kills more than one million children each
year. Ayala and his collaborators have shown that
they all derive from one single African strain that
lived about 5,000 years ago, and that worldwide falciparum
parasites are genetically uniform in all protein-coding
genes, except for the few genes that have recently
evolved in response to the human immune system or
to drug therapies. The public health consequences
of this discovery are beginning to be appreciated,
and are potentially enormous.
Personal: Ph.D., Columbia University. Born in
Madrid, Spain, Mar. 12, 1934.
Public Information Contact: Tom Vasich, University
of California, Irvine Voice - (949) 824-6925. Fax
- (949) 824-8673. E-mail - tmvasich@uci.edu
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Who: Mario R. Capecchi, Distinguished Professor
of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine,
and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
What: Capecchi's investigations have revolutionized
biomedical research and provided a powerful tool for
understanding disease mechanisms and gene functions.
Capecchi's gene knockout technology has revolutionized
mouse genetics, with vast implications for human biology
and medicine. This technology is being used to determine
the function of genes in all mammalian biological
phenomena from embryogenesis to brain function, and
to generate mouse models for human genetic diseases.
At a time when scientists believed that targeted gene
disruption, which depends on the mechanism of homologous
recombination, could not be achieved in animal cells,
Capecchi pioneered gene targeting by gaining a detailed
understanding of how DNA sequences of a resident gene
were exactly replaced by the introduced gene sequence.
Countless laboratories worldwide now use this technology
to investigate human disease and to systematically dissect the function of individual genes.
Personal: Ph.D. in biophysics, Harvard University.
Born in Verona, Italy, Oct. 6, 1937.
Public Information Contact: Kristen Kamerath,
University of Utah Department of Human Genetics Voice
- 801-585-0538. Fax - 801-585-9557. E-mail - Kristen.kamerath@genetics.utah.edu
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Who: Ann M. Graybiel, Walter A. Rosenblith
Professor of Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
What: Graybiel has revolutionized our understanding
of the functional anatomy and physiology of the brain.
She and her group made the pioneering discovery of
the fundamental architecture of the large forebrain
region known as the basal ganglia, and demonstrated
a mechanism of directed neurochemical control of complex
brain circuits. Her work provides an understanding
of how activity states of the forebrain are controlled
and modulated during motor activity, procedural learning
and cognition. The work has major clinical relevance
for disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's
diseases; for neuro- psychiatric disorders such as
Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder,
attention deficit disorder, and major depression.
Graybiel's work directly addresses the issue of how
humans can make and break habits, an issue of fundamental
importance in human behavior.
In her more recent studies, Graybiel has discovered
that the long-term changes in gene expression patterns
in the basal ganglia are predictive of the development
of behavioral stereotypes in the treated animals.
At the same time, they are tracking the changes in
neuro signaling occurring behavioral learning. This
work represents a breakthrough in bringing together
the seemingly separate fields of gene regulation,
neurophysiology and behavioral observation.
Personal: Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Born in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Jan. 25,
1942.
Public Information Contact: Deborah Halber,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Voice - 617-258-9276.
Fax - 617-258-8762. E-mail - dhalber@mit.edu
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Who: Gene E. Likens, Director and President
and G. Evelyn Hutchinson Chair in Ecology, Institute
of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York
What: Likens, with colleagues, was the first
to document the link between the increasing acidity
of precipitation and fossil fuel combustion in North
America, and the long-term consequences of this phenomenon
- acid rain. His findings catalyzed a vigorous public
policy dialogue, stimulated new scientific studies,
and raised awareness of the connections between human
activities and the ecosystems upon which humans are
dependent. His work and the attention it commanded
led to national legislation addressing the effects
of acid rain.
Likens' classic long-term ecological studies led to
important insights regarding the concept of the critical
linkages among an ecosystem, an airshed, a watershed,
nutrient cycling, effects of land-use practices, biogeochemical
cycles and the role of riparian zones. His approach is now the guiding paradigm in the science of ecology
and in the application of this science to finding
solutions for global environmental problems, including
deforestation, the greenhouse effect, acid rain, and
eutrophication.
Personal: Ph.D. in zoology, University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Born in Pierceton, Ind., Jan. 6, 1935.
Public Information Contact: Joseph S. Warner,
Institute of Ecosystem Studies Voice - 845-677-5343.
Fax - 845-677-5976. E-mail - warnerj@ecostudies.org
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Who: Victor A. McKusick, University Professor
of Medical Genetics, Professor of Biology, Professor
of Epidemiology, and Professor of Medicine, Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine
What: McKusick is largely responsible for bringing
genetics into the mainstream of clinical medicine.
As the founding father of modern medical genetics,
Dr. McKusick demonstrated the value of careful observation
of patients with inherited disorders, in which he
provided a framework for basic scientists in search
of biochemical and molecular defects.
In 1966 he organized the knowledge base in human genetics
into an encyclopedic reference, Mendelian Inheritance
in Man, which has provided the foundation for the
human genome project and human gene mapping.
McKusick was the first to point out publicly the potential
power inherent in the complete DNA sequencing and
characterization of the human genome. He urged the
organization of the Human Genome Project even when
the technologies were barely capable of addressing
such a challenge. The recent completion of the human genome sequence is a testimony to his influence in
initiating the project.
Personal: M.D., Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine. Born Parkman, Maine, Oct. 21, 1921.
Public Information Contact: Joann Rodgers, Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns
Hopkins Hospital. Voice - 410-955-8659. Fax - 410-955-8255.
E-mail - jrodgers@jhmi.edu
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Who: Harold Varmus, President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center
What: Varmus is best known for pioneering studies
of animal retroviruses, in which he and J. Michael
Bishop discovered that normal human and animal cells
contain genes capable of becoming cancer genes. This
discovery was a revolutionary finding that inaugurated
a new era in cancer research and ignited a spectacularly
successful search for the genetic origins of cancer.
To date, scientists have identified more than 100
genes that cause cancer in humans. Varmus and Bishop
received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for their work.
During a highly praised tenure as director of the National
Institutes of Health from 1993-1999, Varmus initiated
many changes in the conduct of intramural and extramural
research programs, recruited outstanding new leaders
for many of the institutes, and helped to increase
the agency's annual budget from under $11 billion to nearly $18 billion.
Varmus has co-authored more than 300 scientific papers
and four books, including an introduction to the genetic
basis of cancer for a general audience.
Personal: M.D., Columbia University. Born in
Oceanside, N.Y., Dec. 18, 1939.
Public Information Contact: Christine Hickey,
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Voice - 2l2-639-3627.
Fax 212-639-3527. E-mail - hickey1@mskcc.org
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Chemistry
Who: Ernest R. Davidson, Distinguished Professor
and the Robert and Marjory Mann Chair in Computational
Quantum Chemistry, Indiana University
What: Davidson has changed our understanding
of the nature of matter. His numerous conceptual and
algorithmic developments led to the field of computational
quantum chemistry and made possible the accurate modeling
of chemical reactions and the response of molecules
to radiation.
Davidson invented the iterative natural orbital method,
which led to some of the earliest accurate wave functions.
He also developed the Davidson correction for improving
calculated energies. He was a world leader in the
theory of reduced density matrices and their application
to chemistry. No other quantum chemist has shown this
diversity of important developments.
Davidson entered the field of computers and was one
of the first to turn from preconceived models and
focus on letting the computer determine the answer,
a radical change in philosophy at the time. A large number of conceptual and algorithmic advances bear
his name. The most widely used is the purely mathematical
advance called the Davidson method, which stimulated
developments in applied mathematics and led to applications
in physics and engineering unconnected to quantum
chemistry.
Personal: Ph.D. in chemistry, Indiana University.
Born in Terre Haute, Ind., Oct. 12, 1936.
Public Information Contact: David Bricker, Indiana
University Voice - 812-856-9035. Fax - 812-855-7002.
E-mail - brickerd@indiana.edu
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Who: Gabor A. Somorjai, Professor of Chemistry,
University of California, Berkeley, and Faculty Senior
Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
What: Somorjai is the world leader in developing
modern surface science. He established the molecular
foundation of many surface-based technologies. His
fundamental surface studies over the past 35 years
contributed the lion's share of molecular level understanding
of surface structure, the bonding of adsorbates and
the concepts and ingredients responsible for the reactivity
of surfaces that helped the development of surface
technologies.
Somorjai began the process of discovering the fundamental
bases of heterogeneous catalysis, without which the
chemical industry as we know it today would not exist.
His techniques and the results he obtained bear on
many surface features of broad technical importance
such as adhesion, lubrication, friction, absorption
catalysis and other phenomena that depend on surface
interactions.
Personal: Ph.D. in chemistry from the University
of California at Berkeley. Born in Budapest, Hungary,
May 4, 1935.
Public Information Contacts: Robert Sanders,
University of California at Berkeley Voice - 510-643-6998.
Fax - 510-642-7289. E-mail - rls@pa.urel.berkeley.edu
Lynn Yarris, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Voice
- 510-486-5375. Fax 510-486-6641. E-mail: lcyarris@lbl.gov
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Mathematics
Who: Calyampudi R. Rao, Emeritus Holder of
the Eberly Family Chair in Statistics, and Director
of the Center for Multivariate Analysis, Pennsylvania
State University and Adjunct Professor, University
of Pittsburgh.
What: Rao's pioneering work in multivariate
analysis has become the foundation of statistics,
with a significant impact on applications in medical
diagnosis, evolutionary genetics, and signal detection
theory.
Rao has focused equally on the application of statistical
methods to real-world problems. One of his early books,
Advanced Statistical Methods in Biometric Research
(1952), was written to assist biomedical researchers
who were not equipped to develop the new methods of
analysis their data demanded.
In response to the needs of industry, he introduced
a new method of experimentation through combinatorial
arrangements, known as Orthogonal Arrays, which has
become widely used to control and improve the quality
of manufactured goods. He developed estimation theory
in small samples, which greatly extended the scope of statistical methods in practical work.
Rao was the first to introduce differential geometric
techniques in discussing problems of statistical inference,
based on Rao's Distance Function, which is now an
active field of research.
Personal: Ph.D., Cambridge, U.K. Born in Hadagali,
India, Sept. 10, 1920.
Public Information Contacts: Leta Krumrine,
Penn State University Voice - 814-863-8453. Fax -
814-863-2246. E-mail - lak15@psu.edu
John Fedele, University of Pittsburgh Voice - 412-624-4148.
Fax - 412-624-4895. E-mail - jfedele@pitt.edu
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Who: Elias M. Stein, Albert Baldwin Dodd
Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University.
What: Stein has influenced the shaping of the
field of mathematical analysis and has changed the
way mathematicians approach problems in nearly every
subarea of the field. He was among the first to appreciate
the interplay among partial differential equations,
classical Fourier analysis, several complex variables
and representation theory. He was the first to perceive
the fundamental insights in each field arising from
that interplay.
Stein is the world's leading authority in harmonic
analysis. Stein and colleagues introduced a generalization
of analytic functions in higher dimensions known as
Hp-spaces. This theory led to important connections
between harmonic analysis and probability theory,
and facilitated the solution of numerous problems.
In his studies, he also showed the power of using
square functions to control error terms, a technique that he invented and that is now fundamental in harmonic
analysis.
Personal: Ph.D., University of Chicago. Born
in Belgium, Jan. 13, 1931.
Public Information Contact: Steven Schultz,
Princeton University Voice - 609-258-5729. Fax - 609-258-1301.
E-mail - sschultz@princeton.edu
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Behavioral and Social Sciences
Who: George F. Bass, George T. and Distinguished
Professor Emeritus of Nautical Archaeology, Texas
A&M University and Founder, Institute of Nautical
Archaeology
What: Bass is recognized as the father of nautical
archaeology after directing and publishing the first
complete excavation of an ancient shipwreck four decades
ago. His research has made unique contributions to
the sociology of ancient seafaring from the Bronze
Age to the Classical, Byzantine and Islamic eras and
by tracing the evolution of the watercraft on which
the world depended for millennia.
Bass founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology
which has conducted some of the most important excavations
of the twentieth century, and its findings throw new
light into areas as diverse as the beginning of the
free enterprise system, the dating of Homer's Odyssey,
chronologies of Egyptian dynasties and Helladic cultures,
and the histories of technology, economics, music,
art and religion.
His team was the first to locate an ancient shipwreck with sonar, and Bass, with his colleagues, introduced
a submersible decompression chamber and the routine
breathing of pure oxygen during decompression after
dives, now a standard procedure worldwide. Bass also
has dedicated an enormous amount of thought and planning
to the conservation of cultural remains raised from
the sea bed.
Personal: Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania,
in Classical Archaeology. Born in Columbia, S.C.,
Dec. 9, 1932.
Public Information Contact: Ryan Garcia, Texas
A and M University Voice - 979-845-4680. Fax 979-845-6745.
E-mail - rag@univrel.tamu.edu
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Engineering
Who: Andreas Acrivos, Albert Einstein Professor
of Science and Engineering, City College of the City
University of New York, and Professor of Chemical
Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University
What: Acrivos is widely recognized for his contributions
to the modern theory of fluid mechanics and convective
heat and mass transfer.
Several of his pioneering studies created new fields.
He was one of the first to develop and use what is
known as the boundary-integral method for numerically
solving the partial differential equations of linear
hydrodynamics. He helped to establish the scientific
basis for the field of suspension mechanics, and his
work was highly relevant to industries ranging from
oil production to the manufacture of semiconductors.
Acrivos showed that the powerful techniques of asymptotic
analysis and computational fluid dynamics could be
applied successfully to explain and predict suspension
behavior.
Acrivos has also mentored several generations of graduate
students and influenced other researchers who have made major contributions to their fields.
Personal: Ph.D. in chemical engineering, University
of Minnesota. Born in Athens, Greece, Jun. 13, 1928.
Public Information Contact: Charles DeCicco,
City College of the City University of New York Voice
- 212-650-5310. Fax - 212-650-7584. E-mail - cdecicco@ccny.cuny.edu
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Physical Sciences
Who: Marvin L. Cohen, University Professor,
Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
What: Cohen created, developed, and applied
a theory of real materials based on quantum mechanics
at the atomic level. His plane wave pseudopotential
method provided an understanding of materials in general
and semiconductors in particular, which has transformed
technology.
He established the foundations of the major techniques
used worldwide for computing properties of solids.
He has an unparalleled record of explaining and predicting
properties of matter. Examples of his successful predictions
are the first superconducting oxide (semiconducting)
material, a host of new structural phases of solids,
several new superconductors including silicon at high
pressures, new compound nanotubes, and new classes
of superhard solids.
During the past 35 years, there has been a revolution
in the use of quantum theory to predict the existence of new materials and properties, and Dr. Cohen is
the individual most responsible for this advance.
He correctly predicted the existence of new materials
and explained many properties of solids.
Personal: Ph.D., University of Chicago. Born
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Mar. 3, 1935.
Public Information Contacts: Robert Sanders,
University of California at Berkeley Voice - 510-643-6998.
Fax - 510-642-7289. E-mail - rls@pa.urel.berkeley.edu
Lynn Yarris, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Voice
- 510-486-5375. Fax 510-486-6641. E-mail: lcyarris@lbl.gov
Top of Page
Who: Raymond Davis, Jr., Research Professor
of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
and Guest Collaborator, Brookhaven National Laboratory
What: In the 1960s, Davis was the first scientist
to measure the flux of neutrinos from the sun, the
signature of nuclear fusion reactions occurring in
the core of the sun. Using chlorine detectors, Davis
found only one-third of the neutrinos that standard
theories predicted -- the "solar neutrino problem"
-- and for the next 20 years, physicists focused on
resolving that discrepancy. Experiments in the 1990s
using different detectors eventually confirmed the
neutrino discrepancy. The lower than expected event
rates are now accepted worldwide as evidence for neutrino
oscillations.
He contributed to geochemical methods of geological
dating of surface rocks and applied this technique
to meteorites and lunar rock samples returned to earth.
He also applied the technique to measure the radioactivity
of spy satellites.
Personal: Ph.D. in chemistry, Yale University.
Born in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 1914.
Public Information Contact: Mona Rowe, Brookhaven
National Laboratory Voice - 631-344-5056. Fax - 631-344-3368.
E-mail - mrowe@bnl.gov
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Who: Charles D. Keeling, Professor of Oceanography
and Research Oceanographer, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, San Diego, California
What: Keeling has been a pioneer and leader
in the study of the global carbon cycle, its responses
to change through the combustion of fossil fuels and
changes in land use, and the complex relationships
between the carbon cycle and changes in climate. In
the process, he has collected what many believe to
be the most important time series data set for the
study of global change, the record of the global increase
in atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa,
Hawaii, and at other "clean air" locations, including
the South Pole. The Mauna Loa record is known as the
Keeling Curve.
Keeling has been a leader in the study of the role
of oceans in modulating the atmospheric concentration
of carbon dioxide and in carrying out the extremely
accurate measurements of the dissolved carbonate system
in seawater that are required to address this problem. He became the first to determine definitively the
fraction of CO2 from combustion that is accumulating
in the atmosphere.
Keeling and his colleagues have also undertaken major
efforts in global carbon cycles modeling. Keeling
has shown that the amplitude of the Northern Hemispheric
seasonal cycles in atmospheric carbon dioxide has
been increasing, providing independent support for
the conclusion that the growing season is beginning
earlier, perhaps in response to global warming.
Personal: Ph.D., Northwestern University, Evanston,
Ill. Born in Scranton, Penn.
Public Information Contact: Cindy Clark, Scripps
Institution of Oceanography Voice - 858-534-3624. Fax - 858/534-5306. E-mail - cclark@ucsd.edu
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For more information on National Medal of Science, see: 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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