President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists

Focuses on Need to Maintain World-Class Science and Engineering Workforce

Today at the White House, President Obama will honor 100 outstanding early career scientists – the latest winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The Award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.

The President’s meeting with the winners builds on the events of last week announcing an expansion of the “Educate to Innovate” campaign (http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-pressoffice/president-obama-expands-educate-innovate-campaign-excellence-science-technology-eng) and showcases his sustained focus on America’s need for a world-class science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce.

The Presidential Early Career Awards embody the high priority the Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers to advance the nation’s goals and contribute to all sectors of the economy. Nine Federal departments and agencies join together annually to nominate the most meritorious young scientists and engineers—researchers whose early accomplishments show the greatest promise for strengthening America’s leadership in science and technology and contributing to the awarding agencies' missions.

“You have been selected for this honor not only because of your innovative research, but also for your demonstrated commitment to community service and public outreach,” President Obama said in a letter to the winners to be delivered during a ceremony today. “Your achievements as scientists, engineers, and engaged citizens are exemplary, and the value of your work is amplified by the inspiration you provide to others."

The awards, established by President Clinton in February 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected on the basis of two criteria: Pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and a commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach. Winning scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their study in support of critical government missions.

This year’s recipients are:

Department of Agriculture

David H. McNear Jr., University of Kentucky and USDA, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
Dean E. Pearson, USDA, Forest Service
Erica Spackman, USDA, Agricultural Research Service

Department of Commerce
Craig Brown, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Michael C. Coniglio NOAA, National Severe Storms Laboratory
Dana H. Hanselman, NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Pamela L. Heinselman, NOAA, National Severe Storms Laboratory
Dean DeLongchamp, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Till P. Rosenband, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Department of Defense

David P. Arnold, University of Florida
Seth R. Bank, University of Texas, Austin
Christopher W. Bielawski, University of Texas, Austin
Elizabeth Boon, Stony Brook University
Markus J. Buehler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scott A. Craver, Binghamton University
John O. Dabiri, California Institute of Technology
Chris L. Dwyer, Duke University
Gregory S. Engel, University of Chicago
Thomas H. Epps III, University of Delaware
Gregory A. Fiete, University of Texas, Austin
Oliver Fringer, Stanford University
Anthony Grbic, University of Michigan
Carlos E. Guestrin, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael A. Hickner, Penn State University
Michael J. Hochberg, University of Washington
Yu Huang, University of California, Los Angeles
Gregory H. Huff, Texas A&M University
Jacob L. Jones, University of Florida
Sanjay Kumar, University of California, Berkeley
Xiaoqin Li, University of Texas, Austin
Mathew M. Maye, Syracuse University
Leigh S. McCue-Weil, Virginia Polytechnic University
Beverley J. McKeon, California Institute of Technology
Anastasia H. Muliana, Texas A&M University
Ryan P. O'Hayre, Colorado School of Mines
Jiwoong Park, Cornell University
Susan E. Parks, Penn State University
Jason R. Petta, Princeton University
Justin K. Romberg, Georgia Institute of Technology
Adrienne D. Stiff-Roberts, Duke University
Benjamin R. tenOever, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Joel A. Tropp, California Institute of Technology
Derek H. Warner, Cornell University
Sharon M. Weiss, Vanderbilt University
Patrick J. Wolfe, Harvard University
Robert J. Wood, Harvard University
Tanya Zelevinsky, Columbia University
Jianglong Zhang, University of North Dakota
Xiaolin Zheng, Stanford University
Rashid Zia, Brown University

Department of Education

Nonie K. Lesaux, Harvard University
Katherine A. Rawson, Kent State University

Department of Energy

Cecilia R. Aragon, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Gary A. Baker, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Joshua A. Breslau, Princeton Plasma Physics
Gianluigi Ciovati, Thomas Jefferson Lab National Accelerator Facility
Stefan P. Gerhardt, Princeton Plasma Physics
Lynford L. Goddard, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jason Graetz, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Jeffrey B. Neaton, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Thao D. Nguyen, Johns Hopkins University
Paul Sorensen, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Alexandre M. Tartakovsky, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ivan Vitev, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Melina R. Kibbe, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and Northwestern University
Alexander H. Sox-Harris, Palo Alto VA Health Care System

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services

Thomas P. Cappola, University of Pennsylvania
Pablo A. Celnik, Johns Hopkins University
Felicia D. Goodrum, University of Arizona
Bruce J. Hinds III, University of Kentucky
Helen H. Lu, Columbia University
Ulrike Peters, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Jeremy F. Reiter, University of California, San Francisco
Marisa Roberto, The Scripps Research Institute
Erica O. Saphire, The Scripps Research Institute
Oscar E. Suman, Shriner's Hospital, University of Texas
Kristin V. Tarbell, The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Gonzalo E. Torres, University of Pittsburgh

National Science Foundation

Maria M. Calbi, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Amy B. Cerato, University of Oklahoma
Ioannis Chasiotis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Monica F. Cox, Purdue University
Cameron R. Currie, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Joel L. Dawson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jimmy de la Torre, Rutgers University
Roland G. Fryer Jr., Harvard University
Sean Hallgren, Penn State University
John M. Herbert, Ohio State University
Steven D. Jacobsen, Northwestern University
Charles R. Keeton II, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Chun Ning Lau, University of California, Riverside
Hao Lin, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Harmit S. Malik, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Rada F. Mihalcea, University of North Texas
Scott R. Sheffield, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Zuzanna S. Siwy, University of California, Irvine
Adam D. Smith, Penn State University
Joy K. Ward, University of Kansas

Note to regional reporters: For more information about, or interviews with, local winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, please contact the awardees’ home institution or agency.

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