Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in 1959 in honor of a scientist who helped elevate American physics to world leadership.

E. O. Lawrence was the inventor of the cyclotron, an accelerator of subatomic particles, and a 1939 Nobel Laureate in physics for that achievement. The Radiation Laboratory he developed at Berkeley during the 1930s ushered in the era of “big science,” in which experiments were no longer done by an individual researcher and a few assistants on the table-top of an academic lab but by large, multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers in entire buildings full of sophisticated equipment and huge scientific machines. During World War II, Lawrence and his accelerators contributed to the Manhattan Project, and he later played a leading role in establishing the U.S. system of national laboratories, two of which (Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore) now bear his name.

Shortly after Lawrence's death in August 1958, John A. McCone, Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, wrote to President Eisenhower suggesting the establishment of a memorial award in Lawrence's name. President Eisenhower agreed, saying, "Such an award would seem to me to be most fitting, both as a recognition of what he has given to our country and to mankind, and as a means of helping to carry forward his work through inspiring others to dedicate their lives and talents to scientific effort." The first Lawrence Awards were given in 1960.

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards honor scientists and engineers, at mid-career, showing promise for the future, for exceptional contributions in research and development supporting the Department of Energy and its mission to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States.

Each Lawrence Award recipient receives a citation signed by the Secretary of Energy, a gold medal bearing the likeness of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, and a $50,000 honorarium.

Nomination and Selection Procedures

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards honor scientists and engineers, at mid-career, showing promise for the future, for exceptional contributions in research and development supporting the U.S. Department of Energy and its mission to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States.

Currently awards are given in even-numbered years. One Lawrence Award is given in each of the following seven fields:

* Chemistry
* Environmental Science and Technology
* Life Sciences (including Medicine)
* Materials Research
* National Security
* Nuclear Technology
* Physics

The objectives of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards are:

* to inspire people of all ages through the examples of Ernest 0rlando Lawrence and the Lawrence Award laureates; and
* to highlight for the general public the accomplishments of the U.S. scientific community.

Criteria

* Recipients must be in their mid-careers (defined as within 20 years of receiving a Ph.D. or M.D.).
* The award is given for a relatively recent achievement (rather than for a lifetime of achievements).
* Recipients must be citizens of the United States.
* Nominations will be judged primarily on the scientific and technical significance of the work to its field (rather than for leadership ability).

Nomination Materials

Nomination is made by a letter of justification, curriculum vitae, and a bibliography of significant publications.

Nominations must indicate clearly the field for which the person is being nominated (Chemistry, Environmental Science and Technology, Life Sciences, Materials Research, National Security, Nuclear Technology, Physics).

A few letters supporting the nomination from individuals who are familiar with the work are helpful.

election

Approximately 4000 research organizations and individuals are invited to nominate candidates for the Lawrence Awards. The recipients are chosen in a multi-step review process. For each award category, a screening panel of esteemed scientists and engineers representing National Laboratories, universities, and private-sector research organizations reviews the nominations and makes recommendations to the Interagency Awards Committee. The Committee, composed of senior science executives from major Federal research organizations, reviews the screening panel’s recommendations and, in turn, makes recommendations to the Secretary of Energy through the Director, Office of Science. The Secretary of Energy gives the award on behalf of the Department of Energy.

Award Laureates

1960
*Harvey Brooks
*John S. Foster, Jr.
*Isadore Perlman
*Norman F. Ramsey, Jr.
*Alvin M. Weinberg

1961
*Leo Brewer
*Henry Hurwitz Jr.
*Conrad L. Longmire
*Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky
*Kenneth E. Wilzbach

1962
*Andrew A. Benson
*Richard P. Feynman
*Herbert Goldstein
*Anthony L. Turkevich
*Herbert F. York

1963
*Herbert J.C. Kouts
*L. James Rainwater
*Louis Rosen
*James M. Taub
*Cornelius A. Tobias

1964
*Jacob Bigeleisen
*Albert L. Latter
*Harvey M. Pratt
*Marshall N. Rosenbuth
*Theos J. Thompson

1965
*George A. Cowan
*Floyd M. Culler
*Milton C. Edlund
*Theodore B. Taylor
*Arthur C. Upton

1966
*Harold M. Agnew
*Ernest C. Anderson
*Murray Gell-Mann
*John R. Huizenga
*Paul R. Vanstrum

1967
*Mortimer M. Elkind
*John M. Googin
*Allen F. Henry
*John O. Rasmussen
*Robert N. Thorn

1968
*James R. Arnold
*E. Richard Cohen
*Val L. Fitch
*Richard Latter
*John B. Storer

1969
*Geoffrey F. Chew
*Don T. Cromer
*Ely M. Gelbard
*F. Newton Hayes
*John H. Nuckolls

1970
*William J. Bair
*James W. Cobble
*Joseph M. Hendrie
*Michael M. May
*Andrew M. Sessler

1971
*Thomas B. Cook
*Robert L. Fleischer
*Robert L. Hellens
*P. Buford Price
*Robert M. Walker

1972
*Charles C. Cremer
*Sidney D. Drell
*Marvin Goldman
*David A. Shirley
*Paul F. Zweifel

1973
*Louis Baker
*Seymour Sack
*Thomas E. Wainwright
*James Robert Weir
*Sheldon Wolff

1974
*Joseph Cerny
*Harold Paul Fourth
*Henry C. Honeck
*Charles A. McDonald
*Chester R.Richmond

1975
*Evan H. Appelman
*Charles E. Elderkin
*William A. Lokke
*Burton Richter
*Samuel C. Ting

1976
*A. Philip Bray
*James W. Cronin
*Kaye D. Lathrop
*Adolphus L. Lotts
*Edwin D. McClanahan

1977
*James D. Bjorken
*John L. Emmett
*F. William Studier
*Gareth Thomas
*Dean A. Waters

1980
*Donald W. Barr
*B. Grant Logan
*Nicholas P. Samios
*Benno P. Schoenborn
*Charles D. Scott

1981
*Martin Blume
*Yuan Tseh Lee
*Fred R. Mynatt
*Paul B. Selby
*Lowell L. Wood

1982
*George F. Chapline, Jr.
*Mitchell J. Feigenbaum
*Michael J. Lineberry
*Nicholas Turro
*Raymond E. Wildung

1983
*James F. Jackson
*Michael E. Phelps
*Paul H. Rutherford
*Mark S. Wrighton
*George B. Zimmerman

1984
*Robert W. Conn
*John J. Dunn
*Peter L. Hagelstein
*Siegfried S. Hecker
*Robert B. Laughlin
*Kenneth N. Raymond

1985
*Anthony P. Malinauskas
*William H. Miller
*David R. Nygren
*Gordon C. Osbourn
*Betsy Sutherland
*Thomas A. Weaver

1986
*James J. Duderstadt
*Helen T. Edwards
*Joe W. Gray
*C. Bradley Moore
*Gustavus J. Simmons
*James L. Smith

1987
*James W. Gordon
*Miklos Gyulassy
*Sung-Hou Kim
*James L. Kinsey
*J. Robert Merriman
*David E. Moncton

1988
*Mary K. Gaillard
*Richard T. Lahey, Jr.
*Chain Tsuan Liu
*Gene H. McCall
*Alexander Pines
*Joseph S. Wall

1990
*John J. Dorning
*James R. Norris
*S. Thomas Picraux
*Wayne J. Shotts
*Maury Tigner
*F. Ward Whicker

1991
*Zachary Fisk
*Richard Fortner
*Rulon Linford
*Peter Schultz
*Richard E. Smalley
*J. Pace Vandevender

1993
*James G. Anderson
*Robert G. Bergman
*Alan R. Bishop
*Yoon I. Chang
*Robert K. Moyzis
*John W. Shanner
*Carl Wieman

1994
*John D. Boice, Jr.
*E. Michael Campbell
*Gregory J. Kubas
*Edward William Larsen
*John D. Lindl
*Gerard M. Ludtka
*George F. Smoot
*John E. Till

1996
*Charles Roger Alcock
*Mina J. Bissell
*Thom H. Dunning, Jr.
*Charles V. Jakowatz, Jr.
*Sunil K. Sinha
*Theofanis G. Theofanous
*Jorge Luis Valdes

1998
*Dan Gabriel Cacuci
*Joanna S. Fowler
*Laura H. Greene
*Steven E. Koonin
*Mark H. Thiemens
*Ahmed H. Zewail

2002
*C. Jeffrey Brinker
*Claire M. Fraser
*Bruce T. Goodwin
*Keith O. Hodgson
*Saul Perlmutter
*Benjamin D. Santer
*Paul J. Turinsky

2004
*Richard B. Elkind
*Nathaniel J. Fisch
*Bette Korber
*Claire Ellen Max
*Fred N. Mortensen
*Richard J. Saykally
*Ivan K. Schuller
*Gregory W. Swift

2006 [http://www.energy.gov/news/4769.htm]
*Paul Alivisatos and Moungi Bawendi, Materials Research
*Malcolm J. Andrews, National Security
*Arup K. Chakraborty, Life Sciences
*My Hang V. Huynh, Chemistry
*Marc Kamionkowski, Physics
*John Zachara, Environmental Science and Technology
*Steven Zinkle, Nuclear Technology

External links

* [http://www.sc.doe.gov/lawrence/ Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award website]