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Two Caltech Alums Awarded National Medal of Science
September 22, 2009
 Caltech alumni Berni Alder, PhD '52, and James Gunn, PhD '66, have been chosen to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor. They are among nine scientists and engineers selected this year to receive the award, which President Barack Obama will present in a White House ceremony on October 7.
Gunn, a professor of astronomy at Princeton University, was selected for his contributions to modern stargazing, from theory to observation to gadget building. Alder, a retired physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is being honored for his seminal work in molecular dynamics, a type of computer simulation used for studying the motions and interactions of atoms over time.
In a statement about this year's recipients, President Obama said, "These scientists, engineers and inventors are national icons, embodying the very best of American ingenuity and inspiring a new generation of thinkers and innovators."
Established in 1959, the National Medal of Science recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. It was awarded for the first time in 1962. The first recipient was Theodore Von Kármán, a Caltech faculty member and the founder of JPL. The White House has since awarded a total of 458 medals of science. Of these, 53—more than 10 percent—were awarded to Caltech faculty or alumni—a remarkable figure given the Institute's very small number of faculty and graduates every year.
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