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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release September 19, 2000

PRESIDENT NAMES ALFRED CHO, ARTHUR JAFFE, ELIZABETH NEUFELD, AND WILLIAM LESTER TO SERVE AS MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON THE

NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE

The President today announced his intent to appoint Alfred Cho, Arthur Jaffe, Elizabeth Neufeld, and William Lester to serve as members of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Alfred Cho, of Summit, New Jersey, is Semiconductor Research Vice President at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. Dr. Cho received the National Medal of Science for his research in 1993, and is a member of the National Academies of Science and Engineering. Dr. Cho received his B.S.E.E., M.S.E.E. and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Arthur Jaffe, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the Landon T. Clay Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Science at Harvard University. Dr. Jaffe has had a distinguished career in research and education and has received the prestigious Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics and is a member of the National Academy of Science. Dr. Jaffe received a B.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University, a B.A. in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University.

Elizabeth Neufeld, of Los Angeles, California, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Neufeld is a member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine and received the honor of being named California Scientist of the Year in 1990. Dr. Neufeld also received the National Medal of Science in 1994. Dr. Neufeld received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkley.

William A. Lester Jr., of Oakland, California, has been a Chemistry Professor at the University of California, Berkeley since 1981. In 1995, Dr. Lester was a Senior Fellow for Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation where he worked on issues related to under-representation of minorities in science and engineering. Dr. Lester has authored over 170 publications in major refereed journals. Dr. Lester received the IBM Corporation Outstanding Contribution Award in 1974. Dr. Lester also received the Percy L. Julian Award in Pure or Applied Research in 1979 and the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1986 by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. Dr. Lester is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the California Academy of Science. Dr. Lester received his B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Catholic University of America in 1964.

The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 (42 U.S.C. 1880) to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. Up to twenty individuals may be honored in any one calendar year. Medal of Science recipients are selected by the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science.

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