THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESIDENT NAMES OUTSTANDING YOUNG U.S. SCIENTISTS

President Clinton today named 60 young researchers to receive the second annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their careers.

The Presidential Awards were established by President Clinton in February 1996, and are intended to help meet the Administration's goals of producing the finest scientists and engineers for the twenty-first century and maintaining U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific research. The awards recognize young scholars' research contributions, their promise, and their commitment to broader societal goals.

"These gifted young professionals exemplify the best of our science and technology community and will help set the scientific pace for the U.S. and the world in the years ahead," the President said. "Their passion for discovery and their determination to explore new scientific frontiers will drive this Nation forward and build a better America for the twenty-first century."

Ten government agencies join together annually to nominate promising scientists and engineers for the awards. Those selected receive up to $500,000 over a five-year period to further their research and broadly advance science for important government missions. The supporting Federal agencies are: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and Veterans' Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

The awards will be presented in a White House ceremony on November 3, 1997. The recipients are:

Department of Agriculture
Eric J. Gustafson, North Central Forest Experiment Station Laura Lee McConnell, Environmental Chemistry Laboratory Sara L.F. Sunden, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

Department of Commerce
Gregory T. Linteris, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, NIST Christopher R. Monroe, Physics Laboratory, NIST Erik N. Rasmussen, University of Oklahoma Thomas J. Silva, Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory, NIST

Department of Defense
Nicholas L. Abbott, University of California, Davis David S. Citrin, (Navy) Washington State University Robert L. Clark, Jr., (Air Force) Duke University Elliot Douglas, (Army) University of Florida Joel T. Johnson, (Navy) Ohio State University Ying-Cheng Lai, (Air Force) University of Kansas Peter Schiffer, (Army) University of Notre Dame

Department of Energy
Bruno S. Bauer, University of Nevada at Reno Andrew Brandt, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory David J. Dean, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Lori Ann Freitag Diachin, Argonne National Laboratory Thomas Matula, University of Washington David E. Newman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory John Shanklin, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Department of Veterans' Affairs
J. Michael Gaziano, VA Medical Center
Martin R. Gluck, VA Medical Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Elfatih A.B. Eltahir, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jonathan A. Foley, University of Wisconsin at Madison Cila Herman, Johns Hopkins University
Mark V. Hurwitz, University of California at Berkeley Todd T. Schlegel, Johnson Space Center
Eun-Suk Seo, University of Maryland at College Park

National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services Russ B. Altman, Stanford University
Juan C. Izpisua-Belmonte, Salk Institute for Biological Studies Anirvan Ghosh, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Macrae F. Linton, Vanderbilt University Peter Mombaerts, Rockefeller University Michael K. Rosen, Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research Patrick J. Stover, Cornell University
Michele S. Swanson, University of Michigan Medical School Roland M. Tisch, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Sharon L. Walsh, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center David A. Wassarman, National Institutes of Health

National Science Foundation
Jill E. Bargonetti, Hunter College of CUNY Peter N. Belhumeur, Yale University
Geoffrey E. Hill, Auburn University
Daniel P. Lathrop, Emory University
Jon P. Longtin, SUNY at Stony Brook
Timothy A. McKay, University of Michigan Steven W. McLaughlin, Georgia Institute of Technology Renee J. Miller, Ohio State University
David P. Morton, University of Texas at Austin Linda K. Nozick, Cornell University
Katherine Okikiolu, University of California, San Diego Ann M. Sastry, University of Michigan
Lori A. Setton, Duke University
Jaswinder P. Singh, Princeton University Eileen M. Spain, Occidental College
Florence I. Thomas, Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory Lonny L. Thompson, Clemson University
Daniel W. van der Weide, University of Delaware Patricia A. Van Zandt, Johns Hopkins University Miguel Velez-Reyes, University of Puerto Rico

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