WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a call for nominations for the 2009 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. Government. 

 The Lawrence Award is presented by the Secretary of Energy to scientists and engineers, at mid-career, for exceptional contributions to the development, use, control, or production of energy in basic and applied research supporting DOE and its mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.  (This is broadly interpreted as encompassing all science and technology supported by DOE and its programs.)

“The Lawrence Awards were first conferred in 1960 in recognition of the scientist who helped elevate American physics to world leadership, and they have since been awarded to 202 recipients,” said Dr. Patricia M. Dehmer, DOE Office of Science Deputy Director for Science Programs.  “These men and women are among this country’s most brilliant and productive scientists and engineers.  It is in this spirit of inspiration and dedication that the Lawrence Awards continue to be given today.”

Nominations for the Lawrence Award are solicited in each of the following seven fields: chemistry; materials research; environmental science and technology; life sciences (including medicine); nuclear technologies (fission and fusion); national security and non-proliferation; and high energy and nuclear physics.

Each Lawrence Award category award winner receives a citation signed by the Secretary of Energy; a 14 karat gold medal bearing the likeness of Ernest O. Lawrence, and a $50,000 honorarium.  If there are co-winners in a category, the honorarium is shared equally.

Nominations must be filed electronically at www.orau.gov/lawrence.  The deadline for nominations is April 1, 2009.

The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of the late E.O. Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and after whom two DOE national laboratories, one in Berkeley and the other in Livermore, California, are named.

A complete list of past winners and the 2009 call for nominations are available on the Lawrence Award’s webpage: www.sc.doe.gov/lawrence.

DOE’s Office of Science administers the Lawrence Award.  The office is the nation’s leading sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences, is the steward of 10 of DOE’s 17 national laboratories and also supports researchers at more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide.

Media contact(s):
Jeff Sherwood, (202) 586-5806