Two UT Professors Win National Medals of Science

Two professors at the University of Texas have won the National Medal of Science, the highest award given to scientists, engineers and inventors by the U.S. government. They are only the fourth and fifth UT faculty members to win the prize since 1962.

Doctor Allen Bard, a professor in the Chemistry Department at UT, received the award for his outstanding achievement in electrochemistry. He developed an electrochemical microscope that analyzes the chemical makeup of very small surfaces.

“And the surface could be anything," Bard said. "It could be a metal that’s corroding or it could be a catalyst that we’re studying or it could be a bacterium. It’s a way of looking at things chemically but not visually it’s a microscope but it’s not a visual microscope.”

Doctor John Goodenough works in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. He is best known for developing the lightweight and rechargeable lithium-ion battery

“The battery essentially powered the wireless revolution," Goodenough said. "It made possible the wireless revolution let’s put it this way the lithium ion battery. And my work was instrumental in enabling the development of the lithium ion battery to do that.”

They receive their medals from the White House later this month.