First Woman Awarded National Medal Of Science For Mathematics; Eight Other Researchers Receive Awards
Nine scientists from government and academic organizations will be awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for scientists. The award recognizes significant lifetime contributions to the frontier of knowledge. One of the recipients, Cathleen Morawetz of New York University, is the first female mathematician to receive the National Medal of Science in the award's 39-year history.
"These extraordinary scientists and engineers have applied their creativity, resolve, and restless spirit of innovation to ensure continued U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific knowledge," said President Clinton, who announced the awards on Dec. 8, 1998.
The National Medal of Science is the nation's highest scientific honor. Established by Congress in 1959, it is bestowed annually by the President on a select group of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences. In 1980, Congress expanded this definition to recognize outstanding work in the social and behavioral sciences. Including the nine 1998 winners, 362 individuals have been awarded the Medal of Science.
The National Science Foundation administers the Medal of Science program for the President. An independent, 12-member, presidential-appointed committee reviews the nominations and sends its list of recommendations to the President for final selection. The committee is comprised of outstanding scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. Serving as ex officio members are the president of the National Academy of Sciences and the assistant to the President for science and technology policy.
Cathleen Morawetz became the first woman awarded the National Medal of Science in mathematics for her pioneering advances in partial differential equations. A professor emerita at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University (New York), Morawetz also developed wave propagations that resulted in applications in the fields of aerodynamics, acoustics, and optics.
John Cahn's profound influence on the course of materials and mathematics research earned him the National Medal of Science. A fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, MD), Cahn has made enormous contributions to three generations of materials scientists, solid-state physicists, and mathematicians.
A professor of chemistry at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), George Whitesides was commended for his innovative and far-ranging research in chemistry, biology, biochemistry and material science that has brought breakthroughs to transition metal chemistry, heterogeneous reactions, organic surface chemistry and enzyme-mediated synthesis.
Eli Ruckenstein, professor of chemical engineering at the State University of New York (Buffalo), was awarded for his world-class pioneering theories and experimental achievements in colloidal and surface phenomena, catalysts, and advanced materials.
For changing the direction of basic and applied research on mutation, cancer, and aging, Bruce Ames was awarded the National Medal of Science. Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California (Berkeley), Ames developed a simple, inexpensive test for environmental and natural mutagens. His test identified causes and effects of oxidative DNA damage, and translated these findings into intelligible public policy recommendations on diet and cancer risk for the American people.
Don Anderson, professor of geophysics at the California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory (Pasadena), was commended for advancing the understanding of the composition, structure, and dynamics of the Earth and Earth-like planets, and for his national and international influence on the advancement of earth sciences over the past three decades.
A professor of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University (Princeton, NJ), John Bahcall was awarded for his pioneering efforts in neutrino astrophysics and his contributions to the development and planning of the Hubble Space Telescope.
As a professor at the University of Chicago, Janet Rowley helped to revolutionize cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment. She did this through her discovery of chromosomal translocations in cancer, and for her pioneering work on the relationship of prior treatment to recurring chromosome abnormalities. For this work, she also received the National Medal of Science.
William Julius Wilson, professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), was commended for his pioneering methods of interdisciplinary social science research that have advanced understanding of the interaction between the macroeconomic, social structural, cultural and behavioral forces that cause and reproduce inner-city poverty.
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