President Obama Names 2012 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation Recipients

By Kevin E. Noonan --

Last Friday, the White House released the names of the 2012 recipients of the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.  In the press release, the President said he was "proud to honor these inspiring American innovators" and that:

They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this country great -- and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment.

The recipients and a brief note of their areas of study or achievements are as follows:

National Medal of Science

Allen Bard – chemistry, electrochemistry
Sallie Chisholm – oceanography, study of Prochlorococcus
Sidney Drell – theoretical physics, arms control
Sandra Faber – astronomy and astrophysics, black holes
Sylvester Gates – theoretical physics, supersymmetry
Solomon Golomb – mathematics, electrical engineering, Tetris
John Goodenough – solid state physics; mechanical engineering, lithium batteries
Frederick Hawthorne – inorganic chemistry; boron hydrides
Leroy Hood – molecular biologist; automated DNA sequencing, oligo synthesis
Barry Mazur – mathematics, topology
Lucy Shapiro – developmental biology, Caulobacter
Anne Treisman – cognitive psychology, integration theory of attention

National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Frances Arnold – chemical engineering, directed protein evolution
George Carruthers – physics, UV cameras for NASA lunar missions
Robert Langer – engineer, polymeric and microscale drug delivery
Norman McCombs – mechanical engineering, pressure swing absorption systems
Gholam Peyman – retinal surgeon, LASIK eye surgery
Art Rosenfeld – physicist, fluorescent lamps
Jan Vilcek­ – physician, cytokines (TNF and interferon)

Sadly, most of these men and women are unknown to most Americans.  Perhaps this honor will change that somewhat.

Comments

[Lisa]

Your first recipient's name is Allen (not Alan) Bard. See, e.g., http://bard.cm.utexas.edu/. My father did a post-doc with him 40+ years ago - so I was excited to see his name on your list.

[shaun lake]

Are their any recipients awarded for their advancement in Security Technology for 2012