Presidential Young Investigator Award
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The Presidential Young Investigator Award (PYI) was awarded by the National Science Foundation of the United States Federal Government. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator (NYI) Awards and Presidential Faculty Fellows (PFF) program.{{cite web |title=Young Investigator Awards Program revised |url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/91/910927Arc1164.html |website=Stanford News |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=23 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729195953/https://news.stanford.edu/pr/91/910927Arc1164.html |archive-date=29 July 2010 |date=27 September 1991}} In 1995, the NSF Young Investigator program was subsumed into the NSF CAREER Awards program, and in 1996, the Presidential Faculty Fellows program was replaced by the PECASE program.{{cite web|url=http://nsf.gov/pubs/2001/nsf01134/nsf01134.pdf|title=Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program|publisher=National Science Foundation|access-date=1 January 2016}} {{PD-notice}}
Applicants could not directly apply for the award, but were nominated by others including their own institutions based on their previous record of scientific achievement. The award, a certificate from the White House signed by the President of the United States, included a minimum grant of $25,000 a year for five years from NSF to be used for any scientific research project the awardee wished to pursue, with the possibility of additional funding up to $100,000 annually if the PYI obtained matching funds from industry. Considered to be one of the highest honors granted by the National Science Foundation, the award program was criticized in 1990 as not being the best use of NSF funds in an era of tight budgets.{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/cen-v068n045.p024 | volume=68 | issue=45 | title=Presidential Young Investigator Awards Program under Review | year=1990 | journal=Chemical & Engineering News | pages=24–49 | last1 = Zurer | first1 = Pamela S.}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/cen-v068n050.p007 | volume=68 | issue=50 | title=NSF young investigator program may be slashed | year=1990 | journal=Chemical & Engineering News | page=7 | last1 = Zurer | first1 = Pamela}}
At least one awardee has also won a Nobel Prize. For example, Frances Arnold, winner of this award in 1989, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018.{{cite web |title=Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith and Gregory P. Winter, the 2018 Nobel laureates in chemistry |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.jsp?med_id=184456 |website=Multimedia Gallery |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=25 May 2023 |date=3 October 2018}}
Recipients
PYI award recipients include:
- Ahsan Kareem, Structural Engineering, 1984
- Narendra Ahuja, computer science, 1984
- Alice Agogino, engineering, 1985{{Cite web|title = Alice M. Agogino – Biographical Sketch|url = https://bestatberkeley.wordpress.com/alice-m-agogino-biographical-sketch/|website = bestatberkeley|access-date = 2015-11-22|language = en-US|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123055252/https://bestatberkeley.wordpress.com/alice-m-agogino-biographical-sketch/|archive-date = 2015-11-23|url-status = dead}}
- Paul Alivisatos, chemistry, 1991{{cite web|title=Paul Alivisatos Ph.D.|url=http://www.nanoscienceworks.org/people/content/9|website=NanoScienceWorks|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412000038/http://www.nanoscienceworks.org/people/content/9|archive-date=12 April 2016|url-status=dead}}
- Peter B. Armentrout, chemistry, 1984
- David P. Anderson, computer science
- Frances Arnold, 1989
- Kenneth Balkus, chemistry, 1991
- Prithviraj Banerjee, computer systems architecture, 1987{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=8657563 |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award: Fault Tolerance in Parallel Processor Systems |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=January 25, 2011}}
- Paul F. Barbara, chemistry, 1984{{cite web|url=http://tmi.utexas.edu/portfolio-program/paul-f-barbara-endowment/|title=PAUL F. BARBARA ENDOWMENT FOR STUDENT EXCELLENCE IN NANOSCIENCE |publisher=Texas Materials Institute |access-date=September 14, 2014}}
- Christoph Beckermann, mechanical engineering, 1989{{Cite web |title=NSF 92-55 Directory of Awards, Engineering Directorate |url=https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/nsf9255/nsf9255.txt?org=NSF |access-date=2022-10-24}}
- Mary Beckman, linguistics, 1988
- Mladen Bestvina, mathematics, 1988
- Sanjay Banerjee, electrical engineering, 1988
- Robert Bryant, mathematics, 1984
- Stephen Z. D. Cheng, polymer science, 1991
- Paul Alan Cox, evolutionary ecology and ethnobotany, 1985
- Judith Curry, climate science, 1988{{cite web |title=Judith A. Curry CV |url=https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/109630/witnesses/HHRG-116-GO28-Wstate-CurryJ-20190625-SD003.pdf |publisher=Congress |access-date=23 January 2020}}
- Supriyo Datta, electrical engineering, 1984{{Cite web |title=Three Purdue Professors Received Presidential Young Investigator Awards |url=https://www.purdue.edu/uns/html3month/1980s/860228.Younginvest.Winners.html |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=www.purdue.edu}}
- Rina Dechter, computer science, 1991{{cite web|title=Rina Dechter Curriculum Vitae|url=http://www.ics.uci.edu/~dechter/new_site/cv.pdf|access-date=18 June 2015}}
- Chris Q. Doe, biology, 1990
- Bruce Donald, computational biology, 1989
- David L. Donoho, statistics, 1985
- Lin Fanghua, mathematics, 1989
- Juli Feigon, biochemistry, 1989{{cite web|title=Feigon, Juli|url=http://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/directory/feigon-juli|website=UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry|access-date=25 January 2016}}
- Eric Fossum, electrical engineering, 1986
- Jennifer Freyd, psychology
- Elaine Fuchs, cell biology, 1984{{cite web |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8351534 |website=NSF Award Search |access-date=1 July 2023}}
- Gerald Fuller, chemical engineering
- Huajian Gao, materials science
- Mark S. Ghiorso, geological sciences, 1985{{cite web |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8451694&HistoricalAwards=false |website=National Science Foundation |access-date=17 January 2022|title=NSF Award Search: Award # 8451694 - Presidential Young Investigator Award }}
- Leslie Greengard, advanced comp research program and computational mathematics, 1990{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=9058579 |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award: Rapid Numerical Algorithms for Scientific Computation |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=February 19, 2011}}
- Bruce Hajek, 1984{{cite web|title=Bruce Hajek|website=UIUC Electrical & Computer Engineering|url=https://ece.illinois.edu/about/directory/faculty/b-hajek}}
- John L. Hennessy, computer science, 1984
- Jacqueline Hewitt, physics, 1991
- David Hillis, evolutionary biology, 1987
- John M. Hollerbach, haptics and tactile perception, 1984{{cite web|title=Presidential Young Investigator Award: Basic Studies in Haptics and Tactile Perception|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8352460|publisher=nsf.gov|access-date=26 January 2013}}
- Kathleen Howell, astronomy, 1984
- Ellen Hildreth, computer vision, 1987
- Paul Hudak, computer science, 1985{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8451415 |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award: Semantic Analysis in Support of Parallel Computation |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=May 1, 2015}}
- Nan Marie Jokerst, electrical engineering, 1990
- Moshe Kam, electrical engineering, 1990
- David B. Kaplan, physics, 1990[https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9057135&HistoricalAwards=false National Science Foundation award #9057135]
- Mehran Kardar, physics, 1989
- Karen Kavanagh, physics, 1991
- Susan Kidwell, geology, 1986
- Sangtae Kim, chemical engineering, 1985{{cite web |title=Presidential Young Investigators: 1986 Awards |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED292642.pdf |publisher=National Science Foundation |year=1986 |access-date=2025-05-17}}
- Vijay Kumar (roboticist), 1991
- Jacqueline Krim, materials research, 1986{{cite web|title = Presidential Young Investigator Certificate|url=https://www.physics.ncsu.edu/nanotribology/director/young-investigator.jpg| access-date=2020-08-23}}{{cite web|title = Presidential Young Investigator Award #DMR8657211 |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8657211&HistoricalAwards=false|access-date=2020-08-23}}
- James W. LaBelle, physics, 1990
- Robert L. Last, plant biology, 1990
- Edward A. Lee, electrical engineering, 1997{{cite web|url=https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Awards/nsf.html|title=NSF Awards|access-date=2018-10-17}}
- Kevin K. Lehmann, chemistry, 1985
- Charles E. Leiserson, computer science, 1985
- Marc Levoy, 1991{{cite web |title=PYI: Computer Graphics to Visualize Scientific and Medical Data |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9157767 |website=NSF Award Search |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=1 July 2023}}
- Nathan Lewis, analytical and surface chemistry, 1988{{cite web |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8814263 |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award: The Chemistry of Recombination Sites at Semiconductor Interfaces |work=National Science Foundation}}
- John H. Lienhard V, mechanical engineering, 1988
- Udi Manber, computer science, 1985
- Eric Mazur, physics
- Mark McMenamin, geology, 1988
- Eckart Meiburg, mechanical engineering, 1990
- Fulvio Melia, astrophysics, 1988
- Carolyn Meyers, chemical engineering
- Michael I. Miller, biomedical engineering{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Michael|title=Curriculum Vitae|url=http://www.cis.jhu.edu/faculty/cvs/CV_Miller_2016-07-19.pdf|website=Center for Imaging Science, The Johns Hopkins University}}
- Robert F. Murphy (computational biologist), 1983{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8351364&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Award Search: Award#8351364 - Presidential Young Investigator Award|website=www.nsf.gov|access-date=2016-03-29}}
- Monica Olvera de la Cruz, materials physics, 1989
- Jon Orloff, physics, 1984
- Randy Pausch, computer science
- Gregory A. Voth, chemistry, 1991
- Joseph R. Pawlik, biological oceanography, 1991
- Ken Perlin, computer graphics, 1991
- Ronald T. Raines, chemical biology
- Mark O. Robbins, materials research, 1985{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8553271&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Young Investigator Award|publisher=National Science Foundation|access-date=2020-08-24}}
- Ares J. Rosakis, 1985
- Karl Rubin, mathematics
- Rob A. Rutenbar, computer engineering, 1987
- Sunil Saigal, civil engineering, 1990
- Peter Salovey, psychology, 1990
- Aziz Sancar, molecular biophysics, 1984
- Robert Sapolsky, neuroendocrinology
- Terrence Sejnowski, neuroscience, 1984
- Michael Steer, electrical engineering, 1986
- Joann Stock, earth science, 1990{{cite web |title=NSF Award Search: Award # 9058217 - Presidential Young Investigator Award |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9058217 |website=www.nsf.gov |access-date=15 August 2021}}{{cite web |title=NSF Award Search: Award # 9296102 - Presidential Young Investigator Award |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9296102 |website=www.nsf.gov |access-date=15 August 2021}}
- Howard A. Stone, chemical, bioengineering, environmental, and transport systems, 1989{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=8957043 |title=Presidential Young Investigator Award|publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=May 11, 2014}}
- Steven Strogatz, mathematics, 1990
- Éva Tardos, algorithm analysis
- Patricia Thiel, chemistry, 1985{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8451317&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award/Reconstruction in Thin Films|access-date=2019-12-02}}
- Masaru Tomita, computational biology, 1988
- Kerry Vahala, materials research, 1988{{cite web |title=Award Abstract # 8858228: Presidential Young Investigator Award |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8858228 |website=National Science Foundation |access-date=21 May 2023}}
- Mary K. Vernon, computer science, 1985
- Jeffrey Vitter, computer science, 1985
- Margaret Werner-Washburne, molecular biology, 1990
- Ellen D. Williams (scientist), materials research, 1984{{cite web|title=Presidential Young Investigator Award (Materials Research)|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8351436&HistoricalAwards=false|access-date=2020-08-24|website=National Science Foundation}}
- Martin Yarmush, biochemical engineering, 1988
- [http://yeateslab.mbi.ucla.edu/ Todd Yeates], biochemistry, 1991
- Alex Zettl, physics, 1984
- Steven Zimmerman, chemistry
- Munther A. Dahleh, 1991[https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1991/yi91/yi91.txt Presidential Young Investigators 1991 Awardees][http://web.mit.edu/dahleh/web-cruft/old_May_07/general.html Prof. Munther A. Dahleh]
- Mamidala Ramulu, mechanical engineering, 1991
- Jose A. Ventura, industrial engineering, 1990
- Avideh Zakhor, electrical engineering, 1990
NSF Young Investigator Program
NSF Young Investigator recipients
- Jonathan Block, mathematics, 1993{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9357620&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Award Search: Award#9357620 - Mathematical Sciences: NSF Young Investigator |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=January 8, 2018}}
- Rogers Brubaker, sociology, 1994
- Alyssa A. Goodman, astronomy, 1994
- Christopher R. Johnson, computer graphics and visualization, 1994
- John Edwin Luecke, mathematics, 1992
- Lisa Randall, theoretical physicist, 1992{{cite web|url=https://www.physics.harvard.edu/files/physics/files/randall_cv_2022.pdf|title=Curriculum Vitae of Lisa Randall|publisher=Harvard University — Department of Physics|access-date=23 May 2023}}
- Eric Sven Ristad, artificial intelligence, 1992{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9258517|title=NSF Young Investigator Award|publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=April 12, 2017}}
- Cynthia F. Moss, 1992
NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship
The NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship (PFF) program was launched by President George H.W. Bush to honor 30 young engineering and science professors. The awards were up to $100,000 per year for 5 years.{{cite web |last1=Brizius |first1=Martine |last2=Butler |first2=Patricia |last3=Frechtling |first3=Joy |last4=Lockwood |first4=John |last5=Prescott |first5=Debra |last6=Silverstein |first6=Gary |last7=Westat |title=A descriptive analysis of the Presidential Faculty Fellows Program: Contributions to science and engineering through leadership in research and teaching |url=https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2001/nsf01118/nsf01118.pdf |access-date=23 May 2023 |date=July 2001}}
PFF recipients
Here are some recipients of the Presidential Faculty Fellowship.
- David Culler, Computer Science, 1992
- Lance Fortnow, Computer Science, 1992
- Theodore (Ted) Rappaport, Wireless Communications, 1992
- Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Electrical/Bioengineering, 1992
- Louise H. Kellogg, Geophysics, 1992
- Jerry L. Prince, Biology, 1993
- Thomas E. Anderson, Computer Science, 1994
- Gregory Chirikjian, Mechanical Engineering, 1994
- Andrew Granville, Mathematics, 1994
- Leslie Kaelbling, Computer Science, 1994
- Jennifer A. Lewis, Materials Science, 1994
- Alan Willner, Electrical Engineering, 1994
- Ken Goldberg, Computer Sciences/Robotics, 1995
- Christopher R. Johnson, Computer Sciences, 1995