National Medals of Technology, Science Awarded

The 2005 and 2006 National Medals of Science, administered by the National Science Foundation, and the 2005 and 2006 National Medals of Technology, administered by the US Department of Commerce, were conferred at a White House ceremony in July. The awards are the nation’s highest honors for scientific research that enhances understanding of the world and for technological innovation.

Of the 16 National Medal of Science laureates honored, 9 are or were involved in physics-related work.

Selected “for his seminal contributions to engineering research and education in the area of wave propagation in solids and for pioneering the field of quantitative non-destructive evaluation” was Jan D. Achenbach, Walter P. Murphy Professor and McCormick School Professor in the departments of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is also director of the university’s center for quality engineering and failure prevention.

Ralph A. Alpher was honored “for his unprecedented work in the areas of nucleosynthesis, for the prediction that universe expansion leaves behind background radiation, and for providing the model for the Big Bang theory.” Alpher is a distinguished research professor of physics at Union College in Schenectady, New York, and a former administrator of the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady.

Former NSF director Rita Colwell received a medal “for her in-depth research that has contributed to a greater understanding of the ecology, physiology, and evolution of marine microbes, most notably Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of pandemic cholera, and which has elucidated critical links between environmental and human health.” She is currently chair of Canon US Life Sciences Inc and Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland, College Park, and at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Bradley Efron, Max H. Stein Professor of Humanities and Sciences and a statistics professor at Stanford University, was recognized “for his contributions to theoretical and applied statistics, especially the bootstrap sampling technique; for his extraordinary geometric insight into nonlinear statistical problems; and for applications in medicine, physics, and astronomy.”

Daniel Kleppner, Lester Wolfe Professor of Physics Emeritus at MIT, garnered a medal “for his pioneering scientific studies of the interaction of atoms and light including Rydberg atoms, cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum chaos; for developing techniques that opened the way to Bose Einstein Condensation in a gas; and for lucid explanations of physics to nonspecialists and exemplary service to the scientific community.”

MIT Institute Professor Robert S. Langer was recognized “for his revolutionary discoveries in the areas of polymeric controlled release systems and tissue engineering and synthesis of new materials that have led to new medical treatments that have profoundly affected the well being of mankind.”

Lubert Stryer was recognized “for his elucidation of the biochemical basis of signal amplification in vision and pioneering the development of high density micro-arrays for genetic analysis.” He is the Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Cell Biology Emeritus and professor emeritus of neurobiology at Stanford University.

Honored “for his pioneering research in the areas of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, organo-f-element chemistry, new electronic and photonic materials, and diverse areas of coordination and solid state chemistry” was Tobin J. Marks. He is the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University.

Lonnie G. Thompson was recognized “for his pioneering research in paleoclimatology analyzing isotopic and chemical fingerprints found in tropical ice cores from the world’s highest mountain glaciers and for his courage in collecting these disappearing climate archives that have transformed our understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing climate variability on our planet, past and present.” Thompson is a University Distinguished Professor in the geological sciences department and a senior research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center at the Ohio State University in Columbus.

Of the seven individuals, one team, and three companies that received the National Medal of Technology, the following are involved in physics-related work.

Alfred Y. Cho was recognized “for his contributions to the invention of the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology and the development of the MBE technology into an advanced electronic and photonic devices production tool, with applications to cellular phones, CD players, high-speed communications, and low-dimensional nanoscale systems.” Cho is an adjunct vice president of semiconductor research at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

Leslie A. Geddes was honored “for contributions to electrode design and tissue restoration that have led to the widespread use of numerous clinical devices.” He is the Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering at Purdue University.

A medal went to Paul G. Kaminski, chairman and CEO of Technovation Inc in Fairfax Station, Virginia, “for contributions to the national security through the development of advanced, unconventional imaging from space, and for developing and fielding advanced systems with greatly enhanced survivability.”

Herwig Kogelnik, adjunct photonics systems research vice president at Bell Labs, was recognized “for pioneering contributions and leadership in the development of the technology of lasers, optoelectronics, integrated optics, and lightwave communication systems that have been instrumental in driving the tremendous capacity growth of fiber optic transmission systems for our national communications infrastructure.”

National Academy of Engineering president Charles M. Vest received the medal “for his visionary leadership in advancing America’s technological workforce and capacity for innovation through revitalizing the national partnership among academia, government, and industry.”

James Edward West was selected “for co-inventing the electret microphone while working with Gerhard Sessler at Bell Labs in 1962. Ninety percent of the two billion microphones produced annually and used in everyday items such as telephones, hearing aids, camcorders, and multimedia computers employ electret technology.” West is a professor in the Johns Hopkins University department of electrical and computer engineering.

The Semiconductor Research Corp of Durham, North Carolina, received the medal “for building the world’s largest and most successful university research force to support the rapid growth and advance of the semiconductor industry; for proving the concept of collaborative research as the first high-tech research consortium; and for creating the concept and methodology that evolved into the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors.”

Xerox Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, was honored “for over 50 years of innovation in marking, materials, electronics, communications, and software that created the modern reprographics, digital printing, and print-on-demand industries.”