By Kevin E. Noonan —

Last
Friday, the White House released the names of the 2012 recipients of the
National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and
Innovation.  In the press release, the
President said he was "proud to honor these inspiring American innovators"
and that:

They represent the ingenuity and imagination
that has long made this country great — and they remind us of the enormous
impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in
an entrepreneurial environment.

The
recipients and a brief note of their areas of study or achievements are as
follows:

National
Medal of Science

Allen Bard – chemistry, electrochemistry
Sallie Chisholm – oceanography, study of Prochlorococcus
Sidney Drell – theoretical physics, arms control
Sandra Faber – astronomy and astrophysics, black
holes
Sylvester Gates – theoretical physics,
supersymmetry
Solomon Golomb – mathematics, electrical
engineering, Tetris
John Goodenough – solid state physics; mechanical
engineering, lithium batteries
Frederick Hawthorne – inorganic chemistry; boron
hydrides
Leroy Hood – molecular biologist; automated DNA
sequencing, oligo synthesis
Barry Mazur – mathematics, topology
Lucy Shapiro – developmental biology, Caulobacter
Anne Treisman – cognitive psychology, integration
theory of attention

National
Medal of Technology and Innovation

Frances Arnold – chemical engineering, directed
protein evolution
George Carruthers – physics, UV cameras for NASA
lunar missions
Robert Langer – engineer, polymeric and microscale
drug delivery
Norman McCombs – mechanical engineering, pressure
swing absorption systems
Gholam Peyman – retinal surgeon, LASIK eye surgery
Art Rosenfeld – physicist, fluorescent lamps
Jan Vilcek­ – physician, cytokines (TNF and
interferon)

Sadly,
most of these men and women are unknown to most Americans.  Perhaps this honor will change that somewhat.