Member Prizes

Academy Members Win Inaugural Kavli Prizes

• Astrophysics: Maarten Schmidt, California Institute of Technology and Donald Lynden-Bell, Cambridge University, both of whose work underpins our understanding of quasars.
• Nanoscience: Louis E. Brus, Columbia University for discoveries of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, and carbon nanotubes.
• Neuroscience: Pasko Rakic, Yale University School of Medicine, Thomas Jessell, Columbia University, and Sten Grillner, Karolinska Institute, who collectively have deciphered the basic mechanisms that govern the development and functioning of the networks of cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Albany Medical Center Prize Awarded to Two Fellows

• Sheldon Danzinger, H. J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan: Four decades of antipoverty policies.
• Laura L. Kiessling, Hilldale Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Laurens Anderson Professor of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin: Chemoselective reactions for biology.
• John Gerard Ruggie, Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: Governing multinationals: the case of human rights.
• Kathryn Sikkink , Regents Professor and McKnight Distinguished University Professor, University of Minnesota: The origins and effects of human rights trials in the world.

• Robert Hass, for poetry, for his collection, Time and Materials. A second poetry prize was awarded to Philip Schultz for Failure.
• Saul Friedländer, Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, for general nonfiction, for The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945.

• N. Scott Momaday, University of Arizona, “for his writings and his work that celebrate and preserve Native American art and oral tradition. He has introduced millions worldwide to the essence of Native American culture.”
• Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, “for a lifetime of paintings whose meticulous realism has captured the American consciousness, and whose austere vision has displayed the depth and dignity of American life.”

• Cynthia Ozick, New Rochelle, New York, “for her literary criticism, which has traced the shifting currents of American arts and letters. In her criticism and essays she has been a lifelong advocate and practitioner of moral clarity and literary excellence.”
• Richard Pipes, Harvard University, “for his peerless scholarship on Russia and Eastern Europe and for his dedication to the cause of freedom. He has shaped and sharpened our understanding of the contest between liberty and tyranny.”

Presidential Medal of Freedom Awarded to Shalala and Fauci

2007 Nobel Prizes

• Economics: Leonid Hurwicz, (University of Minnesota), Eric S. Maskin (Institute for Advanced Study) and Roger B. Myerson (University of Chicago), “for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory.”
• Chemistry: Gerhard Ertl (Max Planck Society) “for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces.”
• Peace: Albert Gore, Jr. (Generation Investment Management U.S. LLP), shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.” The IPCC has three working groups, including one that assesses the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change and is co-chaired by Susan Solomon (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration).

Nine Fellows Honored With National Medals of Science and Technology

• Mathematics and Computer Science: Hyman Bass, University of Michigan, “for his fundamental contribution to pure mathematics, especially in the creation of algebraic K-theory; his profound influence on mathematics education; and his service to the mathematics research and education communities. With his unique combination of gifts, he has had enormous impact over the course of a half century.”
• Chemistry: Marvin H. Caruthers, University of Colorado, for his development of “robust methods for the chemical synthesis of DNA, which has enabled genetic engineering of new biopharmaceuticals, forensic ‘DNA fingerprinting’, and the human genome project.”
• Biological Sciences: Rita R. Colwell, University of Maryland, whose “research has contributed to a greater understanding of the ecology, physiology, and evolution of marine microbes, most notably Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of pandemic cholera, and has elucidated critical links between environmental and human health.”
• Chemistry: Peter B. Dervan, California Institute of Technology, “for his fundamental research contributions at the interface of organic chemistry and biology, and his influence in education and industrial innovation.”
• Biological Sciences: Nina V. Fedoroff, Pennsylvania State University, “Fedoroff pioneered plant molecular biology and first cloned and characterized maize transposons. She has contributed to education and public policy pertaining to recombinant DNA and genetic modification of plants.”
• Physical Sciences: Daniel Kleppner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “for pioneering scientific studies of the interaction of atoms and light, including Rydberg atoms, cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum chaos; for developing techniques that opened the way to Bose Einstein Condensation in a gas; for lucid explanations of physics to non-specialists; and for exemplary service to the scientific community.”
• Chemistry: Robert S. Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “for revolutionary discoveries in the areas of polymeric controlled release systems and tissue engineering and synthesis of new materials that have led to new medical treatments and have profoundly affected the well-being of mankind.”
• Biological Sciences: Lubert Stryer, Stanford University School of Medicine, “Stryer pioneered the application of fluorescence spectroscopy, and particularly fluorescence resonance energy transfer, to the analysis of biological macromolecules; he elucidated the biochemical basis of signal amplification in vision; and he pioneered the development of high density micro-arrays for genetic analysis (gene chips). Stryer also wrote the most influential biochemistry textbook of the past 50 years, a work that has influenced and inspired millions of students over three decades.”

Academy Fellow Charles M. Vest, newly appointed president of the National Academy of Engineering and president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been awarded the 2006 National Medal of Technology “for his visionary leadership in advancing America’s technological workforce and capacity for innovation through revitalizing the national partnership among academe, government and industry.”

Three Fellows Awarded The Shaw Prize

Academy Fellows who received The 2007 Shaw Prize are:

• Astronomy: Peter Goldreich, Institute for Advanced Study and California Institute of Technology, “in recognition of his lifetime achievements in theoretical astrophysics and planetary sciences.” Goldreich’s groundbreaking research has probed such topics as the origin of spiral structure in disk galaxies, the electrodynamics of pulsars, and helioseismology. “His work, insights, and accomplishments,” the foundation said in a written announcement, “set the gold standard for the field.”
• Life Science and Medicine: Robert J. Lefkowitz, Duke University Medical Center, “for his relentless elucidation of the major receptor system that mediates the response of cells and organs to drugs and hormones.” In work extending over 35 years, Lefkowitz’s research revealed how chemical messengers are received and interpreted by target cells. This information has helped researchers develop even more powerful medications for an assortment of ailments, including high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and schizophrenia.
• Mathematical Sciences: Robert P. Langlands, Institute for Advanced Study, shared with Richard Taylor of Harvard University, “for initiating and developing a grand unifying vision of mathematics that connects prime numbers with symmetry.” Their work, the foundation said, “has guided mathematicians over the past 40 years and will continue to do so for years to come.”

National Medal of Science Awarded to Seven Fellows

• Physical Sciences: Ralph A. Alpher, Dudley Observatory in Schenectady, N.Y., “for providing the model for the Big Bang theory, as well as for his prediction that the expansion of the universe deposits background radiation.”
• Biological Sciences: Anthony S. Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “for his studies of the human immune system and the mechanisms of HIV.”
• Biological Sciences: Torsten N. Wiesel, Rockefeller University, “for developing new insights about how the brain processes information collected by the retina.”
• Engineering: Jan D. Achenbach, Northwestern University, “for his research into how waves spread through solids,” and “for pioneering the study of quantitative nondestructive evaluation.”
• Behavioral and Social Sciences: Gordon H. Bower, Stanford University, “for his research into human memory and reasoning.”
• Mathematics and Computer Sciences: Bradley Efron, Stanford University, “for developing the ‘bootstrap method,’ which is a computer-based way of attaching a plus-or-minus value to a statistical estimate.”
• Chemistry: Tobin J. Marks, Northwestern University, “for research into the properties of new substances.”

• Lawrence D. Bobo, Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor, and Director, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University: Black and white Americans' views of the new law and order regime.
• Tanya Luhrmann, Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University: Making God real in evangelical Christianity.
• Geraldine Richmond, Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon: Environmental sustainability.
• José Alexandre Scheinkman, Theodore Wells '29 Professor of Economics, Princeton University: The economics of the informal sector.
• Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music, and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University: Ethiopian music and musicians in the United States.