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NSF PR 00-03 - January 31, 2000
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Twelve Pioneering Researchers Will Receive the 1999
National Medal of Science
President Clinton today named 12 of the nation's most
respected researchers, three of them Nobel Prize winners,
to receive the 1999 National Medal of Science.
Honoring the discoveries and lifetime achievements
of the nation's top scientists, the Medal of Science
recipients named by the president today represent
a widely diverse group that: created wholly new scientific
fields, such as conservation biology and speech sciences;
led to discoveries that determined why the ozone "hole"
exists; and legitimized theories about technological
progress on economic growth, among others.
"The contributions of these scientists are so profound,
so connected to our everyday lives and so lasting
that these medals go only a short way to express the
gratitude the nation owes them," said Rita Colwell,
director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The new medalists are the last to be named in the 20th
Century. They will receive their medals along with
five awardees of the National Medal of Technology,
which were also announced today, on March 14 at the
White House.
David Baltimore, president of the California Institute
of Technology (Caltech), is one of three new medalists
to have won the Nobel Prize. Baltimore made a key
discovery of a protein carried in cancer-inducing
viruses that reverses the ordinary flow of information
in biological systems, leading to further discoveries
of cancer-causing genes known today. Baltimore's discovery
was made simultaneously with Howard Temin of the University
of Wisconsin, for which they shared the 1975 Nobel
Prize. Physicist James W. Cronin at the University
of Chicago won a Nobel Prize in 1980 with Val Fitch
of Princeton University for discovering one of the
essential ingredients in explaining the predominance
of matter over antimatter in the universe. Economist
Robert M. Solow, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), won the 1987 Nobel
Prize for demonstrating the critical importance of
technological advances on economic growth.
Three of the scientists named today are from the University
of Chicago. Chemist Stuart A. Rice is receiving a
medal for his work in physical chemistry. Nobel laureate
Cronin and physicist Leo P. Kadanoff are receiving
awards in physical sciences - Cronin for lifetime
work in elementary particle physics and astrophysics,
and Kadanoff for his contributions to statistical,
solid state and nonlinear physics.
Nobelist Baltimore, along with Jared Diamond, physiology
professor at UCLA School of Medicine, and Lynn Margulis,
a University of Massachusetts distinguished professor
will receive Medals of Science for their work in the
biological sciences.
In addition to Chicago's Rice, chemistry medals will
go to John Ross, a professor of chemistry at Stanford
University and Susan Solomon a senior scientist at
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) in Boulder, Colo.
Nobel laureate Solow, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), will receive his
science medal in economic sciences. Another M.I.T.
faculty member, Kenneth N. Stevens, an engineering
professor, will receive a medal in engineering for
his research in speech sciences that laid the groundwork
for many of the speech synthesis and recognition technologies
of today.
Felix E. Browder of Rutgers University and Ronald R.
Coifman at Yale University were named to receive Medals
of Science for mathematics.
Congress established the Medal of Science in 1959,
which NSF administers. Counting today's recipients,
there have been 374 medals bestowed on leading U.S.
scientists and engineers.
Attachment: Summaries
of Achievements - 1999 Science Medalists
For more information see:
Attachment
Summaries of Achievements - 1999 Science Medalists
Biological Sciences
David Baltimore, Professor of Biology and President,
California Institute of Technology, for far-reaching,
fundamental discoveries that dramatically altered
field of study in virology, molecular biology and
immunology, for excellence in building scientific
institutions, and in fostering communication between
scientists and the general public. (Media Contacts:
Bill Noxon, National Science Foundation, 703-292-8070
wnoxon@nsf.gov,
and Robert Tindol, CalTech, Pasadena, 626-395-3631,
tindol@caltech.edu)
Jared Diamond, Professor of Physiology, UCLA
School of Medicine, for seminal research in applying
Darwinian evolutionary approaches to the disparate
fields of physiology, ecology, conservation biology
and human history, and for outstanding efforts in
communicating science.
(Media Contacts: Bill Noxon, NSF and Elaine
Schmidt, 310-794-0777, elaines@support.ucla.edu,
or Roxanne Moster, roxanne@support.ucla.edu)
Lynn Margulis, Distinguished University Professor,
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, for outstanding contributions to the understanding
of the structure and evolution of living cells, and
for extraordinary abilities as a teacher and communicator
of science to the public. (Media Contacts:
Bill Noxon, NSF, and Elizabeth Luciano, UMASS, 413-545-0444,
luciano@journ.umass.edu)
Chemistry
Stuart A. Rice, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished
Service Professor, The James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, for changing the very nature
of modern physical chemistry through his research,
teaching, and writing, and for using imaginative approaches
to both experiment and theory that have inspired a
new generation of scientists. (Media Contacts:
Bill Noxon, NSF, and Steve Koppes, University of Chicago,
773-702-8366, s-koppes@uchicago.edu)
John Ross, Professor of Chemistry, Stanford
University, for his enormous impact in physical chemistry,
especially in molecular studies, statistical mechanics,
nonlinear kinetics, and for opening up new fields
in chemical science. (Media Contacts: Bill
Noxon, NSF, and Dawn Levy, 650-725-1944, dawnlevy@stanford.edu)
Susan Solomon, Senior Scientist, Aeronomy Laboratory,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Boulder, Colorado, for key insights into explaining
the cause of the Antarctic ozone "hole." Solomon advanced
the understanding of the global ozone layer, which
changed the direction of ozone research and provided
exemplary service to worldwide public policy. (Media
Contacts: Bill Noxon, NSF, and Barb McGehan, NOAA,
Boulder, Colo., 303-4497-6288, barbara.mcgehan@noaa.gov
and Tim Tomastik, NOAA, Washington, D.C., 202-482-6090,
tim.a.tomastik@noaa.gov)
Economics
Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor Emeritus,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for creating
the modern framework for analyzing the effects of
investment and technological progress on economic
growth, which has greatly influenced economics and
economic policy worldwide. (Media Contacts:
Bill Noxon, NSF, and Deborah Halber, 617-258-5402,
dhalber@mit.edu)
Engineering
Kenneth N. Stevens, C.J. LeBel Professor of
Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
for pioneering contributions to the theory, mathematical
methods and analysis of acoustics in speech production,
and establishing the contemporary foundations of speech
science. (Media Contacts: Bill Noxon, NSF,
and Deborah Halber, 617-258-5402, dhalber@mit.edu)
Mathematics
Felix E. Browder, University Professor, Rutgers
University, Piscataway, N.J., for pioneering mathematical
work in the creation of nonlinear functional analysis
that opened up new avenues in nonlinear problems,
and for leadership in the scientific community that
broadened the range of interactions among disciplines.
(Media Contacts: Bill Noxon, NSF, and Joseph
Blumberg, 732-932-7084 ext.652, blumberg@ur.rutgers.edu)
Ronald R. Coifman, Phillips Professor of Mathematics,
Yale University, New Haven, Conn,. for fundamental
contributions to the field of harmonic analysis and
for adapting that field to the capabilities of the
digital computer to produce a family of fast, robust
computational tools that have substantially benefited
science and technology. (Media Contacts: Bill
Noxon, NSF, and Jacqueline Weaver, 203-432-8555, jacqueline.weaver@yale.edu)
Physical Sciences
James W. Cronin, University Professor Emeritus,
The Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago,
for fundamental contributions to the fields of elementary
particle physics and astrophysics and as a leader
in creating an international effort to determine the
unknown origins of very high-energy cosmic rays. (Media
Contacts: Bill Noxon, NSF, and Steve Koppes, University
of Chicago, 773-702-8366, s-koppes@uchicago.edu)
Leo P. Kadanoff, John D. MacArthur, Distinguished
Service Professor, The James Franck Institute, The
University of Chicago, for leadership in fundamental
theoretical research in statistical, solid state and
nonlinear physics which has led to numerous and important
applications in engineering, urban planning, computer
science, hydrodynamics, biology, applied mathematics
and geophysics. (Media Contacts: Bill Noxon,
NSF, and Steve Koppes, University of Chicago, 773-702-8366,
s-koppes@uchicago.edu)
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