NAS Award for Initiatives in Research

The William O. Baker Award for Initiatives in Research, previously the NAS Award for Initiatives in Research, is awarded annually by the National Academy of Sciences "to recognize innovative young scientists and to encourage research likely to lead toward new capabilities for human benefit. The award is to be given to a citizen of the United States, preferably no older than 35 years of age. The field of presentation rotates among the physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics."

The award was established in 1981 in honor of William O. Baker by AT&T Bell Laboratories and is supported by Lucent Technologies.

Source: National Academy for Sciences

For innovative research on the theory and applications of photonic crystal devices.

For his fundamental studies of electron correlations in mesoscopic structures.

For his many innovations in the modeling and numerical simulation of flows and his pioneering contributions to physically based computer graphics.

For his pioneering contributions and ingenuity in the creative design and development of photonic materials and devices.

For the elegant use of randomness to design improved algorithms for classically studied problems such as network flow, graph coloring, finding minimum trees, and finding minimum cuts.

For her experimental realization and characterization of a new quantum system, the vapor-phase degenerate Fermi gas.

For his development of deep and innovative algorithms to solve fundamental problems in network, information extraction, and discrete optimization.

For his insightful use of isotope geochemistry to address the origin of Earth's atmosphere, the infall of cosmic dust, and the uplift rates of mountains.

For her pioneering studies, which have enabled the determination of complex RNA structures, especially those of ribozymes, through X-ray crystallography.

For his contribution to our understanding of the importance of knowledge, learning, and persuasion to political decision-making by voters, legislators, and jurors.

For his seminal contributions to the theory of the vortex-glass phase, the superconductor-insulator transition, and the quantum properties of mesoscopic wires and n-leg Hubbard ladders.

For his innovative development and utilization of instrumentation to attack fundamental issues in physics and astronomy, including the discovery of baryonic dark matter in the galactic halo.

For his fundamental contributions to the understanding of motion perception through the creative integration of single-unit electrophysiology in monkeys, human psychophysics, and computational modeling.

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