National Academies Announces Winners for 2005

Four chemists are among the 17 award winners announced in late January by the National Academy of Sciences for outstanding scientific achievement (C&EN Online, Latest News, Jan. 28). NAS will officially recognize the awardees on May 2 in Washington, D.C., during its 142nd annual meeting.

Thomas C. Bruice, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has garnered the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences for his work on enzyme mechanisms. The award, consisting of a medal and $15,000, is given annually for innovative research in the chemical sciences that contributes to a better understanding of the natural sciences and to the benefit of humanity.

The NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society, a $20,000 prize awarded every two years for fundamental or applied chemistry research that has satisfied a societal need, will go to Marvin H. Caruthers, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Caruthers was chosen for his work on the development of reagents and methods now used in the automated synthesis of DNA oligonucleotides.

Robert J. Cava, a professor of chemistry at Princeton University, will receive the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, which is given annually for accomplishment in science and consists of a medal and a $25,000 prize. He was cited for his work on the synthesis and characterization of new materials with interesting superconducting, dielectric, magnetic, and thermal properties.

The Richard Lounsbery Award, presented annually to recognize scientific achievement in biology and medicine, will be given to John Kuriyan, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Kuriyan was selected for his work on DNA replication and tyrosine kinases. The prize consists of a medal and $50,000 and alternates between young American and French scientists.