Media
contact: October 24, 2000
Charles
S. Drum NSF PR 00-##
(703) 292-8070/cdrum@nsf.gov
Program contact:
Alison Flatau
(703) 292-8360/aflatau@nsf.gov
PRESIDENT HONORS TOP JUNIOR FACULTY
IN
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
President Clinton today named 20 National
Science Foundation (NSF)-supported researchers as recipients of the 2000
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The
awards were presented at the White House Old Executive Office Building by the
president’s science advisor, Neal Lane.
The PECASE award is the highest honor
bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are
in the early stages of establishing their independent research careers. This is
the fifth year of the awards.
Nine participating federal agencies shared
60 PECASE awards for 2000. The Clinton Administration established the awards in
February 1996 to recognize some of the nation's finest junior scientists and
engineers and to maintain U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific
research.
-more-
-2-
“These awards acknowledge much more than
past performance,” said NSF director Rita Colwell, “They represent our
expectation that these women and men will
continue to provide leadership in science, engineering and higher education
well into the millennium.”
NSF awardees have demonstrated a notable
commitment to the integration of research and education. Since the White House
established the award in 1996, 100 NSF-supported faculty members have received
this presidential honor in such diverse fields as biophysics, mathematical
modeling, transportation engineering and microeconomics.
NSF selects its PECASE nominees from among its most meritorious CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) awardees. The CAREER award supports exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education. CAREER awards range from $200,000 to $500,000 for a period of four to five years.
-NSF-
Attachment: List of NSF PECASE Award
recipients
Editors: For further information, see: http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/pecase/start.htm
http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/career/start.htm
NSF is an independent federal agency
which supports fundamental research and education
across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of
about $4 billion. NSF funds reach all 50
states, through grants to about 1,600 universities and institutions nationwide.
Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive requests for funding, and
makes about 10,000 new funding awards.
For instant information about NSF, sign up for the
Custom News Service. From the toolbar on NSF’s home page, (http://www.nsf.gov), sign up to receive
electronic versions of NSF news, studies, publications and reports. Follow the
simple sign-on procedures that guide you to your choices. Also see NSF news products at: http://www.nsf.gov:80/od/lpa/start.htm, http://www.eurekalert.org/,
and http://www.newswise.com
Useful Web Sites:
NSF Home
Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News and
Information: http://www.nsf.gov/home/scinews/start.htm
NSF Custom
News: http://www.nsf.gov/home/cns/start.htm
Science Statistics:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm
NSF Awards
Searches:
http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a6/A6Start.htm
RECIPIENTS OF THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER
AWARD FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
The
following are National Science Foundation-supported researchers receiving the
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Sara C.
Billey, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology - For
outstanding research on the combinatorial structures of Schubert varieties, and
for innovative ideas in exploring the changing roles of computers in
mathematics and education.
Reinhold
Blumel, Wesleyan University - For outstanding research in
quantum and classical chaos using charged particle traps, and for innovative
teaching and involvement of undergraduates in research.
Wilfredo
Colón, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - For experimental and
theoretical approaches to understanding the mechanism by which the amino-acid
sequence of a protein determines its three-dimensional structure, and for
mentoring undergraduate and high-school students.
John N.
DuPont, Lehigh University - For initiating a highly interdisciplinary and
collaborative research and education effort in solid freeform fabrication using
Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) processing.
Carl T.
Friedrichs, College of William and Mary - For an exceptional
interdisciplinary approach to understanding sediment dynamics and its impact on
marine ecology, and his extensive experience with mentoring programs for
undergraduates and high school students.
Theresa
Gaasterland, Rockefeller University - For outstanding research on
computer-based analysis of rapidly accumulating genomic data and for dedicated
development of course materials for graduate students integrating computer
science and biology.
Susan
C. Hagness, University of Wisconsin-Madison - For
outstanding technical expertise in the area of increasing data transfer rates
over optical fiber communications systems and for her extensive outreach and
educational activities.
Youssef
Hashash, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - For
developing an integrated research and education project that addresses a novel
interactive visualization development and learning environment for material
constitutive relations, referred to as VizCoRe.
Scott
M. Husson, Clemson University - For noteworthy contributions
that will impact the development of a range of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer
(MIP) surfaces and for developing an outstanding program for mathematics and
science education.
-more-
-2-
Edwin
C. Kan, Cornell University - For design and fabrication of multi-element
modules for logic and memory devices that will have major impact on a variety
of fields, and for novel research trends that will enhance learning efficiency.
John
David Kubiatowicz, University of California, Berkeley - For
ground-breaking architectural research on extremely wide-area data storage and
access as the basis required for pervasive and widely distributed network-based
applications, and broad well-integrated educational contributions.
Alon Y.
Levy, University of Washington - For development of theory and
tools for flexible and effective construction, maintenance, and management of
Web sites, and for outstanding dedication to graduate and undergraduate
education.
Garrick
E. Louis, University of Virginia - For developing a research and
educational program in the area of integrated municipal sanitation systems
which will impact the delivery of basic municipal services, both domestically
and internationally.
Kwan-Liu
Ma, University of California-Davis - For significant contributions
to the areas of large data, parallel processing, human-computer interaction,
and computational science, and his education plan emphasizing hands-on
experience for graduate and undergraduate students.
David
L. Patrick, Western Washington University - For creative research on
liquid crystal imprinting with applications in rewritable memory storage
devices controlled by optical, magnetic and electrical fields, and educational
commitments.
Georgia
Perakis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - For
outstanding research on the development of a theory for understanding the
nature of traffic equilibria, and for her commitment to undergraduate and graduate
education.
Anne S.
Robinson, University of Delaware - For advances in human health
research by improving the understanding of protein aggregation at the molecular
level, and for education programs to prepare students for opportunities in
biotechnology.
Jenny
R. Saffran, University of Wisconsin-Madison - For
outstanding contributions to the understanding of cognitive processes involved
in language acquisition, and for creative ideas for integrating teaching and
research in undergraduate education.
Arthur
R. Smith, Ohio University - For outstanding research on
Gallium Nitrate (GaN) surface structures, exposing the importance of wurtzite
GaN polarity and enabling atomistic understanding of GaN crystal growth, and
educational commitments.
Kimberley
A. Venn, Macalester College - For an observational program on
the new 8-10 meter class telescopes to determine the chemical composition of
stars in nearby galaxies, and educational commitments.
-NSF-