Posted on July 28, 2007  Comments (2)

The 2005 and 2006 National Medals for Science and Technology were awarded at a White House Ceremony this week. The National Science and Technology Medals Foundation web site has photos of each award winner receiving their medals this year and a list of all winners. The National Medal of Science was established by Congress in 1959 as a Presidential award, has recognized 441 of America’s leading scientists and engineers. The evaluation criteria is based on the total impact an individual’s work has had on the present state of physical, chemical, biological, mathematical, engineering, behavioral or social sciences.

The National Medal of Technology was established by Congress in 1980 as a Presidential award, has recognized 146 individuals and 26 companies whose accomplishments have generated jobs and created a better standard of living. Their accomplishments best embody technological innovation and support the advancement of global U.S. competitiveness.

Related: 2004 Medal of Science Winners (including Norman E. Borlaug) – 2004 National Medal of Science and Technology Ceremony – 2007 Draper Prize to Berners-Lee – Shaw Laureates 2007 – Millennium Technology Prize to Dr. Shuji Nakamura

List of all winners from the White House press release:
2005 National Medal of Science to Jan D. Achenbach, 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.

2005 National Medal of Science to Ralph A. Alpher, 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.

2005 National Medal of Science to Gordon H. Bower, for his unparalleled contributions to cognitive and mathematical psychology, for his lucid analyses of remembering and reasoning, and for his important service to psychology and American science.

2005 National Medal of Science to Bradley Efron, 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.

2005 National Medal of Science to Anthony S. Fauci, for pioneering the understanding of the mechanisms whereby the human immune system is regulated, and for his work on dissecting the mechanisms of pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that has served as the underpinning for the current strategies for the treatment of HIV disease.

2005 National Medal of Science to Tobin J. Marks, 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.

2005 National Medal of Science to Lonnie G. Thompson, 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 has transformed our understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing climate variability on our planet, past and present.

2005 National Medal of Science to Torsten N. Wiesel, for providing key insights into the operation of the visual system and for the discovery of the manner in which neural connections in the brain are made during the development and how they are maintained.

2006 National Medal of Science to Hyman Bass, for his fundamental contributions to pure mathematics, especially in the creation of algebraic K-theory, his profound influence on mathematics education, and his service to the mathematics research and education communities.

2006 National Medal of Science to Marvin H. Caruthers, for his work in developing robust methods for the chemical synthesis of DNA, which has enabled genetic engineering of new biopharmaceuticals, forensic “DNA fingerprinting,” and the human genome project.

2006 National Medal of Science to Rita R. Colwell, 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.

2006 National Medal of Science to Peter B. Dervan, for his fundamental research contributions at the interface of organic chemistry and biology, and for his influence in education and industrial innovation.

2006 National Medal of Science to Nina V. Federoff, for her pioneering work on plant molecular biology, and for her being the first to clone and characterize maize transposons. She has contributed to education and public policy pertaining to recombinant DNA and genetic modification of plants.

2006 National Medal of Science to Daniel Kleppner, 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 non-specialists and exemplary service to the scientific community.

2006 National Medal of Science to Robert S. Langer, 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.

2006 National Medal of Science to Lubert Stryer, for his elucidation of the biochemical basis of signal amplification in vision and pioneering the development of high density micro-arrays for genetic analysis. His influential biochemistry textbook has influenced and inspired millions of students.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Alfred Y. Cho, for his contributions to the invention of the 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, and high-speed communications.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Dean L. Sicking, for his innovative design and development of roadside and race track safety technologies that safely dissipate the energy of high-speed crashes, helping prevent fatalities and injuries.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Ronald Eby, Velupillai Puvanesarajah, Dace Madore, and Maya Koster, for their work in the discovery, development and commercialization of Prevnar, the first-ever vaccine to prevent the deadly and disabling consequences of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in children.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Genzyme Corporation, for pioneering dramatic improvements in the health of thousands of patients with rare diseases and harnessing the promise of biotechnology to develop innovative new therapies.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Semiconductor Research Corporation, 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.

2005 National Medal of Technology to Xerox Corporation, 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.

2006 National Medal of Technology to Leslie A. Geddes, for his contributions to electrode design and tissue restoration, which have led to the widespread use of a wide variety of clinical devices. His discoveries and inventions have saved and enriched thousands of lives and have formed the cornerstone of much of the modern implantable medical device field.

2006 National Medal of Technology to Paul G. Kaminski, for his contributions to national security through the development of advanced, unconventional imaging from space, and for developing and fielding advanced systems with greatly enhanced survivability. He has made a profound difference in the national security posture and the global leadership of the United States.

2006 National Medal of Technology to Herwig W. Kogelnik, for his 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 growth of fiber optic transmission systems for our nation’s communications infrastructure.

2006 National Medal of Technology to Charles M. Vest, for his visionary leadership in advancing America’s technological workforce and capacity for innovation through revitalizing the national partnership among academia, government, and industry.

2006 National Medal of Technology to James E. West, for co-inventing the electret microphone 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.