Three Laboratory staff receive Lawrence awards

Contact: Todd Hanson, tahanson@lanl.gov, (505) 665-2085 (04-079)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 22, 2004 -- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has awarded three University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory the Department of Energy's E. O. Lawrence Award. The named scientists are Bette Korber, Fred Mortensen and Greg Swift.

"We are all enriched by the contributions these researchers have made, ranging from engines with no moving parts to better ways to see the stars," Secretary Abraham said.

Bette Korber is a technical staff member in the Theoretical Division's Theoretical Biology and Biophysics (T-10) Group. She received the Lawrence Award in the Life Sciences category for her pioneering studies of the genetic characteristics of the HIV virus after its transmission from mother to child, during the progression of the disease, and within different tissues in the host; as well as for her development of the Los Alamos HIV database, which forms a foundation for HIV research for the global scientific community. Korber earned her doctoral degree in chemistry in the field of immunology from the California Institute of Technology in 1988. She came to the Laboratory in 1990 as a postdoctoral fellow and became a staff member in 1993. Concurrently, she is also part of the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute.

Fred Mortensen is a technical staff member in the Applied Physics Division's Thermonuclear Applications (X-2) Group. He received the Lawrence Award in the National Security category for his technical contributions in nuclear weapons design and his leadership and expert judgment that have enabled the continued certification of the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons in an era without nuclear testing. He received his doctoral degree in numerical fluid mechanics from the University of New Mexico and came to the Laboratory directly out of college in 1972. He has worked as a staff member in Thermonuclear Applications since that time. During his career Mortensen has received two Laboratory Distinguished Performance Awards, an R&D 100 Team Award and seven Nuclear Weapons Technology Recognition of Excellence Awards.

Greg Swift is a technical staff member in the Materials Science and Technology Division's Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics (MST-10) Group. Swift received the Lawrence Award in the Environmental Science and Technology category for his record of experiments leading to a better understanding of the superfluid state and for the development of thermoacoustic engines. He has been at Los Alamos since 1981, when he arrived as a postdoctoral fellow. Swift earned his doctoral degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980. In 1998, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Swift won a Laboratory Distinguished Performance Award in 1997. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and was the recipient of that organization's Silver Medal in Physical Acoustics in 2000.

The three award winners had all been previously appointed by the Director to the rank of Laboratory Fellow in recognition of their sustained outstanding contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement.

The Los Alamos winners join other three other University of California winners: Claire Max from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Richard Saykally from University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and Ivan Schuller from the University of California, San Diego. Winners will officially receive their awards on Nov. 8.

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in November 1959. The award honors exceptional contributions to the development, use, or control of nuclear energy (broadly defined to include the science and technology of nuclear, atomic, molecular, and particle interactions and effects). Each award recipient receives $50,000, and a gold medal and a citation signed by the Secretary of Energy.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to defense, energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

Additional news releases related to Awards

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