Chemistry Wins Big

Four scientists whose work involves chemistry are among 13 individuals chosen by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to receive its prestigious awards. The awards honor extraordinary contributions in nine areas of science.

JoAnne Stubbe, Novartis Professor of Chemistry and professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive the $15,000 NAS Award in Chemical Sciences for her landmark work on the mechanisms and regulation of ribonucleotide reductases. ???I???m thrilled to receive this award,??? Stubbe says. ???I???ve had a lot of outstanding collaborators who have made this all possible.??? The award recognizes innovative research in the chemical sciences that contributes to the better understanding of the natural sciences and to the benefit of humanity.

Robert T. Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto, St. Louis, will receive the $25,000 NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science. Fraley developed technologies that enabled the production of the world???s first transgenic crops. The award recognizes applications of significant achievements in science.

Thomas Eisner, J. G. Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University, is the winner of the $25,000 John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science. Eisner is being cited for his studies of how organisms use chemistry to mediate ecological interactions. ???The field of chemical ecology is very much a field that is exploding right now,??? Eisner says. ???My hope is that this work will catalyze young people to come into the area and work in the field.??? The award is given for noteworthy and distinguished accomplishment in any field of science.

Angelika Amon, a professor of biology at MIT and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, is the winner of the $25,000 NAS Award in Molecular Biology for her groundbreaking studies of the mechanism and regulation of chromosome segregation. The award recognizes a recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist.

The winners will receive their medals on April 27 at NAS???s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.