Moon Chang's performance at the award ceremony
The Alan Waterman Award is an award that the US National Science Foundation honors young scientists (candidates must be US citizens or permanent residents no older than 35 years or no later than 7 years after receiving a Ph.D. ) for outstanding achievements. The award, named after the American physicist Alan Waterman ( Eng. Alan Tower Waterman ; 1892-1967), established in 1975, has been awarded since 1976.
The award consists of a medal and a grant (currently the grant size is $ 1 million for 5 years of research, in the 2000s the size was 500 thousand dollars). Several Alan Waterman Prize winners received the Nobel and Fields Prizes.
Laureates
| Year | Prize winners | Field of study | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Fefferman, Charles Louis | maths | Original text For his research in Fourier analysis, partial differential equations and several complex variables which have brought fresh insight and renewed vigor to classical areas of mathematics and contributed signally to the advancement of modern mathematical analysis. |
| 1977 | paleobiology | Original text For his outstanding research on Precambrian biotas. His work on these delicate and ancient fossil microorganisms will contribute significantly to the knowledge of the origin of life and the evolution of the earliest known biotas of the world. | |
| 1978 | Muller, Richard | physics | Original text For his original and innovative research, which has led to important discoveries and inventions in diverse areas of physics, including astrophysics, radioisotope dating and optics. |
| 1979 | Thurston, William Paul | maths | Original text In recognition of his achievements in introducing revolutionary new geometrical methods in the theory of foliations, function theory and topology. |
| 1980 | physics | Original text For his contributions to the understanding of the basic structure of matter through experiments that discovered and explored an entirely new collection of subatomic particles. The experiments led to the interpretation of the new particles as being composed of simpler constituents, possessing a new property of matter. | |
| 1981 | chemistry | Original text For showing that fundamental conformational principles can be used in organic synthesis to describe nonrigid molecular arrays and for the design of chemical reactions which use such arrays to control the three-dimensional structure of flexible molecules. | |
| 1982 | Excel, Richard | genetics | Original text For devising a novel procedure for introducing virtually any gene into mammalian cells. Gene transfer now permits the analysis of the mechanisms regulating the expression of genes in an appropriate cellular environment. This information is prerequisite to a rational approach towards gene therapy. |
| 1983 | neurobiology | Original text For his contributions to our understanding of the development of the nervous system. His imaginative choice of model systems and modern technologies are enabling him to discover how individual nerve cells acquire their unique identities and interact with the appropriate cells during embryogenesis. | |
| 1984 | maths | Original text For his revitalization of the foundations of mathematics, his penetrating investigations into the Godel incompleteness phenomena, and his fundamental contributions to virtually all areas of mathematical loqic. | |
| 1985 | Barton, Jacqueline | chemistry | Original text For her imaginative and significant work in bioinorganic chemistry. Her use of small inorganic molecules to recognize and modify DNA sites in very specific ways has led to two major discoveries - enantiomeric selectivity in binding t DNA helices of different handedness, and Z-DNA "punctuation" at the end of genes - with important implications for drug design and for the theory of gene expression. |
| 1986 | Witten, Edward | physics | Original text For path-opening contributions to the physics of elementary particles and gravity, to the search unification, and to the imaginative pursuit of the implications for cosmology. |
| 1987 | Summers, Lawrence | economy | Original text For outstanding contributions to economic research on unemployment, taxation of capital, savings behavior and macroeconomic activity. His work combines powerful analytic insights and imaginative econometric methods aimed at subjects of fundamental National importance. |
| 1988 | Schulz, Peter | chemistry | Original text For innovative research at the interface of chemistry and biology, both in the development of new approaches for the study of molecular recognition and catalysis and in the application of these studies to the design of selective biological catalysts. |
| 1989 | Richard Sceller | neurobiology | Original text For his work leading to the development of recombinant DNA technologies, and for his current research which has illuminated cellular and molecular mechanisms used to regulate animal behavior. These basic studies will lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of brain function and should, in the future, help in the understanding of major psychiatric illnesses. |
| 1990 | Mark davis | chemistry | Original text For his pioneering work in catalytic materials, catalysis, and reaction engineering, including the first synthesis of a molecular sieve with pores larger than 1 nanometer and the invention of supported aqueous-phase catalysts; each of these accomplishments opens up a new and potentially important area in catalytic science and technology, and also has implications for separations technology and environmental control. |
| 1991 | computer science | Original text For his pioneering research in computational geometry through which he has made fundamental contributions to the theory of computer science and to discrete mathematics. His work has solved open problems, built rich theoretical structures, developed algorithmic paradigms, produced robust implementations of geometric algorithms, and brought computational geometry in close touch with application areas in computer technology. | |
| 1992 | radio astronomy | Original text For his major contributions to the understanding of diffuse interstellar medium and the physics and evolution of neutron star pulsars and x-ray binary stars. For his leading role in the discovery of fast pulsars, a major new phenomenon, and in the development of optical and radio spatial interferometry. | |
| 1993 | Deborah L. Penry | biochemistry | Original text For her innovative applications of chemical engineering principles and chemical-reactor theory in analysis of the process of digestion in marine invertebrates, filling an important gap in existing ecological theory dealing with animals strategies for acquiring energy and nutrients. Her research is important to understanding the cycling of materials in the sea - in particular the global carbon cycle and global climate change cycles. |
| 1994 | maths | Original text For his deep understanding and penetrating insights in the field of complex differential geometry, including his solution of the problem of existence of Kahler-Einstein metrics on complex surfaces, his proof that the moduli space for Kahler-Einstein metrics with zero first Chern class is nonsingular , and his proof of the stability of algebraic manifolds by using differential geometric methods. | |
| 1995 | physics | Original text For his broad and original contributions to the theory of the quantum dymanics of macroscopic systems and quantum phase transitions, specifically his prediction of a vortex glass phase in high temperature superconductors, his studies of the superconductor-insulator transition and is seminal work on quantum transport in Luttinger liquids. | |
| 1996 | Robert M. Waymouth | chemistry | Original text For his seminal contributions to the design of well-defined organometallic catalysts for the synthesis of novel polymers, including chiral cyclopolymers and stereoblock polyolefins. The development of catalysts which change their structure as they work has established a new paradigm in the synthesis of block-polymers. |
| 1997 | Cornell, Eric Allin | physics | Original text For his leading role in the creation of Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas, and for innovations in the manipulation, trapping and cooling of atoms that led to the realization of this new state of matter. |
| 1998 | Cummins, Christopher | chemistry | Original text For innovative research in transition-metal activation of small molecules, including the discovery of reactions to cleave nitrogen-nitrogen multiple bonds under mild conditions. His revolutionary approach to chemical reactivity has answered key questions and furthered development in catalyst design and nitrogen fixation. |
| 1999 | biochemistry | Original text For his outstanding work in elucidating the mechanisms of enzyme biocatalysis of polyketides, thereby opening an exciting potential route to new drug discovery. | |
| 2000 | Dudna, Jennifer | biochemistry | Original text For innovative research that led to the development of a technique that facilitates crystallization of large RNA molecules; for determining the crystal structures of catalytic RNA molecules and an RNA molecule that forms the ribonucleoproteincore of the signalr econgition particle; and for deciphering structural features of those molecules that permit a greater understanding of the mechanistic basis of RNA function in both catalysis and protein synthesis. |
| 2001 | wireless connection | Original text For the invention of space-time coding techniques that produce dramatic gains in the spectral efficiency of wireless digital communication systems. | |
| 2002 | neurobiology | Original text For his use of gene expression as a tool to map brain fuctional systems and to identify parts of the brain involved in perceiving, learning and producing vocal communication | |
| 2003 | Angelica Amon | cell biology | Original text For her seminal contributions to understanding how cells orchestrate the segregation of their chromosomes during cell division, the key process of life |
| 2004 | Christy Anset | bioengineering | Original text For her research at the interface of biology and engineering, resulting in the design of innovative biomaterials that significantly facilitate tissue engineering and regeneration. |
| 2005 | sociology | Original text For his contribution to the field of sociology as a research scientist and published author exemplified by his research on how socio-economic status is transmitted across generations. He brings methodological rigor and sophistication to deep social questions. | |
| 2006 | maths | Original text For his research in computational mathematics and statistical estimation, with applications to signal compression and image processing. | |
| 2007 | Yang Paidong | chemistry | Original text For outstanding contributions in the creative synthesis of semiconductor nanowires and their heterostructures, and innovations in nanowire-based photonics, energy conversion, and nanofluidic applications. |
| 2008 | Tao, Terence | maths | Original text For his surprising and original contributions to many fields of mathematics, including number theory, differential equations, algebra, and harmonic analysis |
| 2009 | astronomy | Original text For his pioneering research into the discovery and characterization of planets orbiting other stars, which has allowed, for the first time, the study of their surface conditions and atmospheres, and has revolutionized interdisciplinary research related to exoplanets. | |
| 2010 | Subhash Hot | computer science | Original text For unexpected and original contributions to computational complexity, notably the Unique Games Conjecture, and the resulting rich connections and consequences in optimization, computer science and mathematics. |
| 2011 | Casey W. dunn | evolutionary biology | Original text For his gifted integration of field biology, genomics, and computational science that has led to changing our understanding of the evolutionary tree, integrating morphological and molecular perspectives on diversity, and developing new tools that are revolutionizing biology. |
| 2012 | engineering | Original text For his development of multi-scale, multi-material fabrication methods for automated monolithic assembly of high performance, innovative robots, and for his outreach efforts to make science and engineering accessible to all. | |
| 2012 | Aaronson, Scott | computer science | Original text For numerous fundamental contributions to quantum computing and theoretical computer science and for popularization of quantum information science. |
| 2013 | computer science | Original text For fundamental contributions to the analysis, design, and performance optimization of wireless networks. | |
| 2014 | Zhang Feng | neurobiology | Original text For development and application of molecular technologies that enable systematic interrogation of intact biological systems through precise genomic manipulation. |
| 2015 | engineering | Original text For his work in metamaterial theory and design, including insightful contributions to plasmonic cloaking; effective light manipulation at the nano scale; innovative ideas in breaking time reversal symmetry leading to enhanced non-reciprocity from acoustics to microwaves and optics; and for unique contributions to metamaterials. | |
| 2016 | Mircea DincΔ | chemistry | Original text For pioneering contributions to the synthesis and understanding of molecular porous solids with unusual electronic properties, especially for creative synthetic design leading to microporous materials with high electrical conductivity and redox activity. |
| 2017 | engineering | ||
| 2017 | maths | ||
| 2018 |