The White House recently honored three U-M faculty members as recipients of 2002 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers—the nation’s highest honor for professionals at the outset of their independent research careers.

Garikipati	Lewis	Zurbuchen

Krishnakumar Garikipati, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Mark E. Lewis, assistant professor of industrial and operations engineering; and Thomas Zurbuchen, associate professor of atmospheric, oceanic, and space sciences, were among 57 researchers honored in a May 4 ceremony presided over by John Marburger, science advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The awards, established in 1996, honor the most promising beginning researchers in the nation within their fields. Eight federal departments and agencies annually nominate scientists and engineers at the start of their careers whose work shows the greatest promise to benefit the nominating agency’s mission.

Garikipati was nominated by the Department of Energy, Lewis by the National Science Foundation and Zurbuchen by NASA.

Participating agencies award these scientists and engineers up to five years of funding to further their research in support of critical government missions.