Two Women to Be Awarded the National Science Medal

The White House has announced that 10 individuals have been selected to receive the prestigious National Science Medal from President Obama at a ceremony in Washington later this year. The National Science Medal is administered for the President by the National Science Foundation. Created by statute in 1959, the medal honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. Two of this year’s 10 recipients are women.

May Berenbaum is a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois. She also chairs the entomology department at the university. Professor Berenbaum has been on the faculty at the University of Illinois since 1980. She is a graduate of Yale University, where she majored in biology. Professor Berenbaum holds a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University.

Judith P. Klinman is professor emerita of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She joined the Berkeley faculty in 1978. At that time she was the first woman to ever serve on the faculty of the university’s chemistry department. Dr. Klinman holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in physical/organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.