# Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in 1959 in honor of Ernest Lawrence, a scientist who helped elevate American physics to the status of world leader in the field.
Lawrence was the inventor of the cyclotron, an accelerator of subatomic particles, and a 1939 Nobel Laureate in physics for that achievement. The Radiation Laboratory he developed at Berkeley during the 1930s ushered in the era of "big science", in which experiments were no longer done by an individual researcher and a few assistants on the table-top of an academic lab but by large, multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers in entire buildings full of sophisticated equipment and huge scientific machines. During World War II, Lawrence and his accelerators contributed to the Manhattan Project, and he later played a leading role in establishing the U.S. system of national laboratories, two of which (Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore) now bear his name.
Shortly after Lawrence's death in August 1958, John A. McCone, Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, wrote to President Eisenhower suggesting the establishment of a memorial award in Lawrence's name. President Eisenhower agreed, saying, "Such an award would seem to me to be most fitting, both as a recognition of what he has given to our country and to mankind, and as a means of helping to carry forward his work through inspiring others to dedicate their lives and talents to scientific effort." The first Lawrence Awards were given in 1960.
The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award is bestowed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy to mid-career scientists and engineers in recognition of exceptional scientific, technical, and/or engineering achievements related to the broad missions of the U.S. Department of Energy and its programs. The Lawrence Award is administered by the Department of Energy's Office of Science.
Each Lawrence Award recipient receives a citation signed by the Secretary of Energy, a gold medal bearing the likeness of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, and a $20,000 honorarium.

## Nomination and selection procedures

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards honor scientists and engineers, at mid-career, showing promise for the future, for exceptional contributions in research and development supporting the U.S. Department of Energy and its mission to advance the national economic and energy security of the United States.
Beginning in 2011, the awards are given annually. One Lawrence Award is given in each of the following eight fields:
* Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences
* Biological and Environmental Sciences
* Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences
* Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences
* Energy Science and Innovation
* Fusion and Plasma Sciences
* High Energy and Nuclear Physics
* National Security and Nonproliferation
The objectives of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Awards are:
* to encourage excellence in energy science and technology;
* to inspire people to dedicate their lives and talents to scientific and technological effort, through the examples of Ernest O. Lawrence and the Lawrence Award laureates; and
* to highlight for the general public the accomplishments of the U.S. scientific and technological communities associated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

### Criteria

Eligibility for the Lawrence Award requires that all recipients:
* be in the middle of their careers, defined as within 20 years of earning their highest degree*;
* be citizens of the United States;
* be recognized for achievement in research principally funded by the U.S. Department of Energy; and
* be assessed primarily on the scientific impact and technical significance of their work relative to its discipline and/or related mission. (Business management and stewardship acumen, while valued, is not a significant qualification factor used when evaluating a nominee's worthiness.)

### Nomination materials

Nomination is made by a letter of justification, curriculum vitae, a statement explaining the nominee's connection to DOE support, a no more than 35 word citation, a bibliography of significant publications, and identifying the award category of the nominee (Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Environmental Sciences; Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences; Energy Science and Innovation; Fusion and Plasma Sciences; High Energy and Nuclear Physics; or National Security and Nonproliferation). An individual's nomination is limited to a single category.

### Selection

The nomination materials for all eligible nominees are objectively studied by independent peer review panels, one for each of eight award categories, and if worthy candidate(s) are identified in the peer review, selection recommendations based upon these findings are made by Federal Program Officials. A concurrence request for any awardees is made to the Secretary of Energy, who holds final discretion over any selection(s).
The reviewers are not empanelled as a Federal Advisory Committee. The identity of all nominators, all nominees, and all peer review panelists remain anonymous. DOE employees must comply with regulations governing conduct of employees codified in 10 CFR Part 1010 and Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 CFR §2635.

## Award laureates

1960
* Hendrik Wade Bode
* Harvey Brooks
* John S. Foster Jr.
* Isadore Perlman
* Norman F. Ramsey Jr.
* Alvin M. Weinberg
1961
* Leo Brewer
* Henry Hurwitz Jr.
* Conrad L. Longmire
* Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky
* Kenneth E. Wilzbach
1962
* Andrew A. Benson
* Richard Feynman
* Herbert Goldstein
* Anthony L. Turkevich
* Herbert F. York
1963
* Herbert J.C. Kouts
* L. James Rainwater
* Louis Rosen
* James M. Taub
* Cornelius A. Tobias
1964
* Jacob Bigeleisen
* Albert L. Latter
* Harvey M. Patt
* Marshall N. Rosenbuth
* Theos J. Thompson
1965
* George A. Cowan
* Floyd L. Culler
* Milton C. Edlund
* Theodore B. Taylor
* Arthur C. Upton
1966
* Harold M. Agnew
* Ernest C. Anderson
* Murray Gell-Mann
* John R. Huizenga
* Paul R. Vanstrum
1967
* Mortimer M. Elkind
* John M. Googin
* Allen F. Henry
* John O. Rasmussen
* Robert N. Thorn
1968
* James R. Arnold
* E. Richard Cohen
* Val L. Fitch
* Richard Latter
* John B. Storer
1969
* Geoffrey F. Chew
* Don T. Cromer
* Ely M. Gelbard
* F. Newton Hayes
* John H. Nuckolls
1970
* William J. Bair
* James W. Cobble
* Joseph M. Hendrie
* Michael M. May
* Andrew M. Sessler
1971
* Thomas B. Cook
* Robert L. Fleischer
* Robert L. Hellens
* P. Buford Price
* Robert M. Walker
1972
* Charles C. Cremer
* Sidney D. Drell
* Marvin Goldman
* David A. Shirley
* Paul F. Zweifel
1973
* Louis Baker
* Seymour Sack
* Thomas E. Wainwright
* James Robert Weir
* Sheldon Wolff
1974
* Joseph Cerny
* Harold Paul Furth
* Henry C. Honeck
* Charles A. McDonald
* Chester R.Richmond
1975
* Evan H. Appelman
* Charles E. Elderkin
* William A. Lokke
* Burton Richter
* Samuel C. C. Ting
1976
* A. Philip Bray
* James W. Cronin
* Kaye D. Lathrop
* Adolphus L. Lotts
* Edwin D. McClanahan
1977
* James D. Bjorken
* John L. Emmett
* F. William Studier
* Gareth Thomas
* Dean A. Waters
1980
* Donald W. Barr
* B. Grant Logan
* Nicholas P. Samios
* Benno P. Schoenborn
* Charles D. Scott
1981
* Martin Blume
* Yuan Tseh Lee
* Fred R. Mynatt
* Paul B. Selby
* Lowell L. Wood
1982
* George F. Chapline, Jr.
* Mitchell J. Feigenbaum
* Michael J. Lineberry
* Nicholas Turro
* Raymond E. Wildung
1983
* James Frederick Jackson
* Michael E. Phelps
* Paul H. Rutherford
* Mark S. Wrighton
* George B. Zimmerman
1984
* Robert W. Conn
* John J. Dunn
* Peter L. Hagelstein
* Siegfried S. Hecker
* Robert B. Laughlin
* Kenneth N. Raymond
1985
* Anthony P. Malinauskas
* William H. Miller
* David R. Nygren
* Gordon C. Osbourn
* Betsy Sutherland
* Thomas A. Weaver
1986
* James J. Duderstadt
* Helen T. Edwards
* Joe W. Gray
* C. Bradley Moore
* Gustavus J. Simmons
* James L. Smith
1987
* James W. Gordon
* Miklos Gyulassy
* Sung-Hou Kim
* James L. Kinsey
* J. Robert Merriman
* David E. Moncton
1988
* Mary K. Gaillard
* Richard T. Lahey, Jr.
* Chain Tsuan Liu
* Gene H. McCall
* Alexander Pines
* Joseph S. Wall
1990
* John J. Dorning
* James R. Norris
* S. Thomas Picraux
* Wayne J. Shotts
* Maury Tigner
* F. Ward Whicker
1991
* Zachary Fisk
* Richard Fortner
* Rulon Linford
* Peter Schultz
* Richard E. Smalley
* J. Pace Vandevender
1993
* James G. Anderson
* Robert G. Bergman
* Alan R. Bishop
* Yoon I. Chang
* Robert K. Moyzis
* John W. Shaner
* Carl Wieman
1994
* John D. Boice, Jr.
* E. Michael Campbell
* Gregory J. Kubas
* Edward William Larsen
* John D. Lindl
* Gerard M. Ludtka
* George F. Smoot
* John E. Till
1996
* Charles R. Alcock
* Mina J. Bissell
* Thom H. Dunning, Jr.
* Charles V. Jakowatz, Jr.
* Sunil K. Sinha
* Theofanis G. Theofanous
* Jorge Luis Valdes
1998
* Dan Gabriel Cacuci
* Joanna S. Fowler
* Laura H. Greene
* Neil P. Kelly
* Steven E. Koonin
* Mark H. Thiemens
* Ahmed H. Zewail
2002
* C. Jeffrey Brinker
* Claire M. Fraser
* Bruce T. Goodwin
* Keith O. Hodgson
* Saul Perlmutter
* Benjamin D. Santer
* Paul J. Turinsky
2004
* Richard B. Elkind
* Nathaniel J. Fisch
* Bette Korber
* Claire Ellen Max
* Fred N. Mortensen
* Richard J. Saykally
* Ivan K. Schuller
* Gregory W. Swift
2006
* Paul Alivisatos and Moungi Bawendi, Materials Research
* Malcolm J. Andrews, National Security
* Arup K. Chakraborty, Life Sciences
* My Hang V. Huynh, Chemistry
* Marc Kamionkowski, Physics
* John Zachara, Environmental Science and Technology
* Steven Zinkle, Nuclear Technology
2009
* Joan F. Brennecke
* William Dorland
* Omar Hurricane
* Wim Leemans
* Zhi-Xun Shen
* Sunney Xie
2011
* Riccardo Betti
* Paul C. Canfield
* Mark B. Chadwick
* David E. Chavez
* Amit Goyal
* Thomas P. Guilderson
* Lois Curfman McInnes
* Bernard Matthew Poelker
* Barry F. Smith
2013
* Adam P. Arkin
* Siegfried H. Glenzer
* Stephen C. Myers
* John L. Sarrao
* John C. Wagner
* Margaret S. Wooldridge
2014
* Mei Bai
* Carolyn R. Bertozzi
* Pavel Bochev
* Eric E. Dors
* Christopher L. Fryer
* David J. Schlegel
* Brian D. Wirth
* Peidong Yang
* Jizhong (Joe) Zhou
2020
* Yi Cui
* Dana M. Dattelbaum
* Dustin H. Froula
* M. Zahid Hasan
* Daniel Kasen
* Robert B. Ross
* Susannah G. Tringe
* Krista S. Walton
2021
* Matthew C. Beard
* Luis Chacón
* Andrew J. Landahl
* Jennifer Pett-Ridge
* Sofia Quaglioni
* Philip C. Schuster and Natalia Toro
* Rachel A. Segalman
* Daniel B. Sinars
* Jie Xiao