Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland agreed to accept the 1997 Nevada Medal on September 11, 1995, and exactly a month later, was notified of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Both the Nevada Medal and Nobel Prize recognize his atmospheric studies which led to an understanding of how the ozone layer forms and decomposes. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Rowland's research has "contributed to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic consequences."

In 1974, Rowland was the world's first scientist to point out the mechanisms by which chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet solar radiation. Rowland's theoretical insights and predictions have been verified by scientists throughout the world, and have done much to strengthen international efforts for the preservation of stratospheric ozone.

The research of Rowland and his colleague, Dr. Mario Molina, eventually led to legislation in the United States and other countries regulating the manufacture and use of CFCs, and to the Montreal Protocol, the first international agreement for controlling and healing environmental damage to the global atmosphere.

Rowland's recent studies of the impact of methane gas on the atmosphere have shown atmospheric concentrations have been steadily increasing at about one percent per year since 1978. The excess release of methane is contributing to the "greenhouse effect," the gradual warming of the earth's surface.

The 10th Nevada Medalist is Bren professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, and author of more than 300 published articles. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Academy for Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union.

1996 Nevada Medal
Dr. Hector F. DeLuca

Important practical benefits from DeLuca's research include advances in the treatment of calcium disorders such as osteoporosis, hypoparathyroidism, renal osteodystrophy, and vitamin D-resistant rickets.

DeLuca has published nearly 1,000 scientific papers and is the inventor or co-inventor of more than 150 U.S. patents. He has received more than 20 international honors and awards.

1995 Nevada Medal
Dr. Charles Elachi

Elachi is director for Space and Earth Science at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where he received his Ph.D. in electrical sciences in 1971.He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, holds four patents, and has authored more than 200 publications.

1994 Nevada Medal
Dr. John N. Bahcall

Bahcall is a professor at the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He has served as president of the American Astronomical Society and as chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee.

1993 Nevada Medal
Dr. Margaret B. Davis

Davis is regents' professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. She is a former president of the American Ecological Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. From 1978 to 1980, she was president of the American Quaternary Association, a group which studies geology's Quaternary period, the last 1.8 million years of the Earth's history.

1992 Nevada Medal
Dr. Carl Djerassi

The Stanford chemistry professor has co-authored more than 1,100 scientific articles, is a successful industrialist in the commercial application of his research, and has pursued such ventures as cattle ranching, film-making, and wine-making. An avid art collector and patron, he has written poems, short stories, and novels. Born in Austria in 1923, Djerassi came to the United States following Hitler's Anschluss and earned his Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin.

1991 Nevada Medal
Dr. Benoit B. Mandelbrot

Mandelbrot's principles are being used to analyze the movement of contaminants transported in the groundwater of Nevada.

Mandelbrot is a physicist at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and is also a mathematician at Yale University.

1990 Nevada Medal
Dr. James A. Van Allen

The satellite, containing instruments developed by Van Allen at the University of Iowa, confirmed his prediction of bands of radiation surrounding the planet. They came to be known as the "Van Allen Radiation Belts." Van Allen is a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Iowa.

1989 Nevada Medal
Dr. Dwight Billings

Billings was widely noted for bringing research techniques once reserved for laboratory use into the field, allowing real-world comparisons with laboratory findings.

Billings' chosen field of plant physiological ecology examined how the basic life processes of plants respond to their environment and to what extent these responses limit the habitats in which different species of plants can grow. For many years, his research concentrated on the plant communities of the Great Basin.

1988 Nevada Medal
Dr. Verner E. Suomi

The spin-scan camera, for which Suomi is most noted, was considered an astonishing success when launched in 1966, since it required a device that could reliably photograph a narrow band of the globe on each revolution of a satellite spinning 100 times per minute.

A full picture of the side of the Earth facing the satellite took about 24 minutes.

Ten Years of Honoring Outstanding Achievement

Founded 10 years ago by the Desert Research Institute and Nevada Bell, the Nevada Medal is a national award given annually by DRI to recognize and stimulate outstanding scientific, engineering and technical achievement. In 1985, University Regent Dorothy Gallagher approached DRI's president at the time, Dr. George Hidy, about establishing a national event or activity to raise DRI's formal presence in the scientific community as well as within the state. Hidy turned to his assistant, Sue Wagner (who was later elected Nevada's lieutenant governor), and they generated the idea of a national award recognizing outstanding scientists and engineers.

Wagner enlisted DRI Research Foundation trustee Dr. Arthur Anderson, who helped set up the nomination and selection process. She also took the idea to Nevada's business community, realizing a serious award program required underwriting and financial support. Nevada Bell recognized the concept as a natural match: DRI's international scientific reputation and Nevada Bell's expertise in technology and engineering presented an ideal opportunity to begin a new era of community enrichment. The award program was formally christened the Nevada Medaland a partnership began which has grown over the last 10 years to involve business, government, community, and scientific leaders from all over the state and the nation.

Dear Friends:

Among the great pleasures we have enjoyed as Governor and First Lady of Nevada has been the opportunity to get to know the outstanding scientists and engineers who have received the Nevada Medal. Each year, as a part of the Nevada Medal activities, we have hosted the medalists at the Governor's Mansion, and found them all to be genuinely impressed by the high level of commitment in Nevada to research and education. Several have remarked on the fact that Nevada is the only state in the union which has named a national scientific medal on behalf of the state itself.

The Nevada Medalists' achievements have been accomplished in a broad range of fields, from space engineering to physical chemistry, from paleoecology to astrophysics, with a little fractal geometry thrown in for good measure. They have all expressed to us their common compelling interest in attracting young people to careers in science and engineering, and have taken time during their visits here to interact with teachers and students.

Some of these luminaries have made contributions with direct significance to Nevada, while others' accomplishments are of a broader nature that benefit all of humanity. Occasionally their work has brought them into collaboration with scientists at Nevada's Desert Research Institute or those on the faculties of our universities in Las Vegas and Reno.

Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland, this year's recipient, was involved in a startling discovery that holds serious consequences for all of us if not acted uponthe potential loss of the ozone layer protecting us from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. Today, he must feel a great deal of satisfaction in the global response to his discoveries, which have already resulted in a detectable moderation of the concentration of ozone depleting chemicals.

For our still small, but rapidly developing state, we feel that the Nevada Medal performs three very important functions beyond the worthy recognition of the medalists. First, by acknowledging the best and brightest from the scientific community, we are alerting them to the considerable talents and capabilities within this state. And, by bringing them to our campuses and communities, we are offering the most fitting of role models for our young people to consider for their own future endeavors. Finally, the participation of the communities in the Nevada Medal Dinner provides important funding to the Desert Research Institute for equipment and graduate student support.

On this tenth anniversary of the Nevada Medal, we are especially pleased to serve as the State co-chairs for the 1997 Nevada Medal Awards Dinners. Please join us in supporting this outstanding program that means so much to both of us and to Nevada.

Governor Bob Miller
First Lady Sandy Miller
Nevada Medal Dinner Co-Chairs

Nevada Medal Statewide Dinner Committee
Nevada Medal Committee Members as of January 29, 1997: