President Clinton today named 59 young researchers as recipients of the fifth annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers.  The researchers will receive their awards tomorrow in a White House ceremony.

 These awards, established by President Clinton in February 1996, embody the high priority the Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers ready to contribute to all sectors of the economy.  Eight Federal departments and agencies join together annually to nominate the most meritorious young scientists and engineers who will broadly advance the science and technology that will be of the greatest benefit to fulfilling the agencies' missions.

 "These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country," President Clinton said.  "Through their talent, ability, and dedication, they will quicken the pace of discovery and put science and technology to work advancing the human condition as never before."

The young scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their study in support of critical government missions.  The Federal agencies involved include: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

The recipients are:

Department of Agriculture
Randall S. Singer, University of Illinois
Cindy D. Davis, USDA, Agricultural Research Service

Department of Commerce
Mark William Keller, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Deborah Shiu-Lan Jin, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Robert Paul Dziak, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Shawn Marie McLaughlin, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service

Department of Defense
John Gregory Morrisett, Cornell University
SonBinh T. Nguyen, Northwestern University
Angela M. Belcher, University of Texas at Austin
Barbara Spang Minsker, University of Illinois
Carol A. Clayson, Purdue University
Naoki Saito, University of California

Department of Energy
David F. Bahr, Washington State University
Aaron L. Odom, Michigan State University
Jonas C. Peters, California Institute of Technology
Richard B. Lehoucq, Sandia National Laboratories
Zhihong Lin, Princeton University
Zheng-Tian Lu, Argonne National Laboratory
Andrey Zheludev, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Eric J. Huang, San Francisco VA Medical Center (VAMC)
Margot S. Damaser, Hines VA Medical Center (VAMC)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Michael E. Brown, California Institute of Technology
Dana Warfield Longcope, Montana State University
Michael J. Turmon, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Janice M. Yelle, NASA Johnson Space Center
Paul Houser, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Yeqiao Wang, University of Rhode Island

National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
Philip Ashton-Rickardt, University of Chicago
Michael L. Dustin, Washington University
Leslie S. Ritter, University of Arizona at Tucson
Monica Kraft, National Jewish Medical and Research Center
Charles E. Murry, University of Washington
Henrique von Gersdorff, Oregon Health Sciences University
Karl Kandler, University of Pittsburgh
S. Barak Caine, Harvard Medical School
Christopher S. Chen, The Johns Hopkins University
Geoffrey A. Chang, The Scripps Research Institute
Orna Cohen-Fix, National Institutes of Health
Jeffrey S. Diamond, National Institutes of Health

National Science Foundation
Sara C. Billey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reinhold Blumel, Wesleyan University
Wilfredo Colón, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
John N. DuPont, Lehigh University
Carl T. Friedrichs, W&M Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Theresa Gaasterland, The Rockefeller University
Susan C. Hagness, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Youssef Hashash, University of Illinois
Scott M. Husson, Clemson University
Edwin C. Kan, Cornell University
John David Kubiatowicz, University of California - Berkeley
Alon Y. Levy, University of Washington
Garrick E. Louis, University of Virginia
Kwan-Liu Ma, University of California - Davis
David L. Patrick, Western Washington University
Georgia Perakis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anne S. Robinson, University of Delaware
Jenny R. Saffran, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Arthur R. Smith, Ohio University
Kimberley A. Venn, Macalester College