President Bush on Monday presented 16 science and technology achievement medals for breakthroughs in various fields, including geology, computer software and networking, genetics and neurology.
Among those honored were the inventor of the Ethernet networking standard for high-speed data transfer and scientists whose work led to the theory of plate tectonics and safer aircraft.
"All of you have been blessed with great talent and you have applied your talent to great purposes. Your work is making our country more competitive, more hopeful, and more prosperous," Bush said before handing out the 2003 National Medals of Science and Technology medals in the White House's East Room.
"Many of your breakthroughs are changing entire industries, from airline safety to chemical production, to computer software and networking," Bush said.
Established by Congress in 1959, the award is administered by the National Science Foundation.
Medal recipients in science:
- R. Duncan Luce, University of California, Irvine, for his advances in economics, psychology and sociology based on mathematical modeling of behavior.
- J. Michael Bishop, University of California, San Francisco, for his discovery that the genes that determine the cancer-causing potential of certain viruses are counterparts of and derived from essential cellular genes.
- Solomon H. Snyder, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md., for his contributions to the understanding of neurotransmitters, their receptors in the nervous system, mechanisms of action of psychoactive drugs and pathways of signal transduction in the brain.
- Charles Yanofsky, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of how genetic messages are read and translated into proteins.
- John M. Prausnitz, University of California, Berkeley, for his work that provides a scientific method for the design, construction and operation of chemical manufacturing plants.
- Carl R. de Boor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, for his contributions to mathematics that strongly assisted numerical computation in science and engineering.
- G. Brent Dalrymple, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., for his work that led to the theory of plate tectonics, involving the movement of the Earth's underlying plates, or structures.
- Riccardo Giacconi, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., for his pioneering research in X-ray astronomy and for his leadership of major astronomy facilities.
Medal recipients in technology:
- Jan D. Achenbach, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., for contributions to engineering research and for pioneering ultrasonic methods for the detection of cracks and corrosion in aircraft.
- Watts S. Humphrey, Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., for his vision and pursuit of a discipline for software engineering.
- Robert M. Metcalfe, Polaris Venture Partners, Waltham, Mass., for leadership in the invention, standardization and commercialization of Ethernet.
- Rodney D. Bagley (retired), Irwin Lachman (retired), Ronald M. Lewis (former employee), Corning Inc., for work that enabled auto manufacturers to develop the world's first commercially mass-produced automotive catalytic converter.
- UOP LLC, Des Plaines, Ill., for leadership and innovation for the worldwide petroleum refining and petrochemical industries.
- Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Madison, Wis., for support of the entire cycle of innovation, from research to invention to investment.