DeSimone to receive National Medal of Technology and Innovation

The White House on Dec. 22 announced the latest recipients of the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation — our nation’s highest honors for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology. The new awardees — including Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center — will receive their medals at a White House ceremony in early 2016.

“Science and technology are fundamental to solving some of our Nation’s biggest challenges,” President Obama said. “The knowledge produced by these Americans today will carry our country’s legacy of innovation forward and continue to help countless others around the world. Their work is a testament to American ingenuity.”

The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, the Medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. The President receives nominations from a committee of Presidential appointees based on their extraordinary knowledge in and contributions to chemistry, engineering, computing, mathematics, and the biological, behavioral/social, and physical sciences.

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office. The award recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation’s technological workforce. A distinguished independent committee representing the private and public sectors submits recommendations to the President.

The new recipients are listed below.

National Medal of Science

• Dr. Armand Paul Alivisatos, University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, CA
• Dr. Michael Artin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
• Dr. Albert Bandura, Stanford University, CA
• Dr. Stanley Falkow, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
• Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
• Dr. Rakesh K. Jain, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, MA
• Dr. Mary-Claire King, University of Washington, WA
• Dr. Simon Levin, Princeton University, NJ
• Dr. Geraldine Richmond, University of Oregon, OR

National Medal of Technology and Innovation

• Dr. Joseph DeSimone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Carbon3D, CA
• Dr. Robert Fischell, University of Maryland at College Park, MD
• Dr. Arthur Gossard, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
• Dr. Nancy Ho, Green Tech America, Inc. and Purdue University, IN
• Dr. Chenming Hu, University of California, Berkeley, CA
• Dr. Mark Humayun, University of Southern California, CA
• Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, University of Connecticut, CT
• Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, 4catalyzer Corporation and Yale School of Medicine, CT

DeSimone also has an appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the UNC School of Medicine and is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Learn more about DeSimone here.