White House Initiative Honors Science Faculty With Millennium Awards

WASHINGTON
Six science professors found themselves under the microscope last month when the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges honored them with Millennium Awards during a special ceremony at the Initiative's annual meeting.
This year, four awards were granted for outstanding achievements in teaching, while two were granted for extraordinary contributions in the area of research.
"Our society benefits greatly from having a diverse pool of scientists," said Dr. Lori A. Perine, deputy to the associate director in the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, quoting Dr. Neal Lane, director of the office of Science & Technology Policy, in her remarks during the ceremony.
Perine commended the award recipients for being at the forefront of helping the nation to achieve that goal.
Dr. Herbert W. Jones, a physicist from Florida A&M University and co-author of two books, won the National Millennium Award for Research. The other honoree in the field of research was Dr. Ronald E. Mickens, a physicist from Clark Atlanta University.
Meanwhile, Howard University professor Paul Hudrlik emerged as this year's recipient of the National Millennium Award for Teaching. His research focuses on the interface between synthetic organic chemistry and organosilicon chemistry. However, it was his impressive record of producing young Black scientists that put Hudrlik over the top for the Millennium Award.
Other winners in the field of teaching included Dr. Juliette B. Bell from the department of natural sciences at Fayetteville State University; Dr. Camille A. McKayle from the division of science and mathematics at the University of the Virgin Islands; and Dr. Ashok K. Kabi Satpathy, a chemistry professor from South Carolina State University.
Among the federal representatives who presented awards with Initiative Executive Director Catherine LeBlanc, were: Perine; Dr. A.J. Hicks of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Ernest J. Moniz, undersecretary at the Department of Energy; Dr. Earl S. Richardson, president of Morgan State University and chair of the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs; and Raymond R. Christman, president of Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, which underwrote the awards ceremony.
During his remarks, Moniz made a point of recognizing HBCUs for the exceptional job of mentoring that they do. He also mentioned that his department is looking for more chances to partner with HBCUs.
The two National Millennium Award recipients' institutions were each presented a $7,500 cash award, while the home institutions of the four other honorees were presented $3,000 each.