Marye Anne Fox, a former chancellor, received the National Medal of Science Wednesday at the White House.
Fox was one of 10 recipients to receive the award, the highest honor bestowed on scientists by the U.S. government, according to a White House press release.
Fox held the chancellor position from 1998 to 2004 before becoming the chancellor at the University of California at San Diego. She was temporarily replaced by Robert Barnhardt before James Oblinger took office in 2005.
According to the release, Fox earned the award “for her research contributions in the areas of organic photochemistry and electrochemistry and for enhancing our understanding of excited-state and charge transfer processes with interdisciplinary applications in material science, solar energy conversion and environmental chemistry.”
The National Medal of Science was established in 1959 for individuals “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical or engineering sciences,” according to the National Science Foundation.
Fox is the 10th recipient from UC-San Diego to receive the award, according to the NSF website. No faculty member at N.C. State has ever received the presidential honor.