List of scientists, researchers Obama honored during White House ceremony

List of winners of top science and research medals

The winners of the 2008 National Medal of Science:

—Berni Alder, for developing computer methods useful for conceiving and executing experimental shock-wave simulations.

—Francis S. Collins, for his contributions to the fields of genetics and genomics in his own laboratory and as the leader of the Human Genome Project.

—Joanna S. Fowler, for her work in chemistry that involves the synthesis of medical imaging compounds and using them to study human neuroscience.

—Elaine Fuchs, for her use of cell biology and molecular genetics in mice to understand inherited diseases in humans and her research on the biology of skin and its disorders.

—James E. Gunn, for his design of telescopes and instruments in astronomy that helped create the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has cataloged 200 million stars, galaxies, and quasars.

—Rudolf E. Kalman, for helping achieve the moon landings and the Global Positioning System.

—Michael I. Posner, for using technology to understand the brain.

—JoAnne Stubbe, for her experiments that established the mechanisms of ribonucleotide reductases, polyester synthases and natural product DNA cleavers.

—J. Craig Venter, for his contributions to genomics, his contributions to public understanding of its implications for society, and his commitment to the clear communication of information.

The winners of the 2008 National Medal of Technology and Innovation:

—Forrest M. Bird, for his inventions including the medical respirator and devices that helped launch modern-day medical evacuations.

—Esther Sans Takeuchi, for her development of the silver vanadium oxide battery that powers the majority of implantable cardiac defibrillators.

—John E. Warnock and Charles M. Geschke, for their technological contributions to desktop publishing and for their role in changing the way people use their computers.

— IBM Corp., for the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer and its systems architecture that has yielded new science, unsurpassed speed and unparalleled energy efficiency.

Source: The White House