President Obama, Director Holdren Welcome Nobel Winners to The White House

Keeping with presidential custom, President Obama and OSTP Director John P. Holdren received this year's American Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office this afternoon, accompanied by the Ambassadors of Sweden and Norway.

At a Blair House reception following the 30-minute meeting with the President, Dr. Holdren noted that fully 11 of this year's 13 winners are Americans and highlighted the Obama Administration's commitment to science, engineering, and mathematics education as a means of maintaining U.S. excellence in the sciences. Dr. Holdren has also noted that this year's American Nobel winners are prime examples of the great value the nation gains through its investments in basic research. The Nobelists' discoveries relating to cancer, inherited diseases, and optically based telecommunication technologies, among other advances, were attained in large part thanks to federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Energy Department.

Also notable is the fact that three of the five women Nobel winners are Americans, including the first woman ever to win the economic sciences award.