President Awards National Science and Technology Medals
WASHINGTON
President Bush presented science and technology achievement medals this week to a University of Pittsburgh doctor and 14 others who have done work that has revolutionized organ transplants, led to development of global positioning systems and helped feed millions around the world.
“The spirit of discovery is one of our national strengths,” Bush said before handing out the 2004 National Medals of Science and Technology in the White House’s East Room. “Our greatest resource has always been the educated, hardworking, ambitious people who call this country their home.
“From Thomas Edison’s light bulb to Robert Ledley’s CAT scan machine, most of America’s revolutionary inventions began with men and women with a vision to see beyond what is and the desire to pursue what might be,” Bush said.
Established by Congress in 1959, the medal of science award is administered by the National Science Foundation. The ceremony brought to 425 the total number of medal of science recipients.
The medal of technology, established by Congress in 1980, is administered by the U.S. Commerce Department. So far, 166 of these technology medals have been awarded.
The medal recipients in science were:
- Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, for his work in liver transplantation and his discoveries in immunosuppressive medication that advanced the field of organ transplantation.
- Dr. Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University; Stanford, Calif., for his contributions in the field of economics.
- Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, Texas A&M University; College Station, Texas, for breeding semi-dwarf, disease-resistant high-yield wheat and instructing farmers in its cultivation to help ease starvation.
- Dr. Robert N. Clayton, The University of Chicago, for his contributions to geochemistry and cosmochemistry that provided insight into the evolution of the solar system.
- Dr. Edwin N. Lightfoot, University of Wisconsin, for research in how the body controls insulin levels and oxygenates blood.
- Dr. Stephen J. Lippard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for research in bioinorganic chemistry, including the interaction of metal compounds with DNA.
- Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for his genetic research, including his role in discovering the discontinuous nature of genetic information in split genes.
- Dr. Dennis P. Sullivan, City University of New York Graduate Center and State University of New York at Stony Brook, for his work in mathematics, including the creation of entirely new fields of mathematics, and uncovering unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields.
— Associated Press
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