The University of Notre Dame College of Science has introduced its Rev. Joseph Carrier, C.S.C., Science Medal to recognize sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science. The medal will be awarded annually, alternating between the mathematical, physical, chemical and biological sciences, and will be accompanied by a monetary award.
The Rev. Carrier medalist will be invited to give a public lecture on campus as part of the award presentation.
The inaugural Rev. Joseph Carrier, C.S.C., Science Medal will be presented in November to Donna Strickland, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018.
Strickland, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, will accept the award and present a lecture at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 3 (Thursday) in Room 105, Jordan Hall of Science. The event is free and open to the public.
“In creating the Rev. Carrier Medal, we will honor world-class achievement in the sciences and inspire Notre Dame students to strive for the same level of greatness as that of Father Carrier and our medalists,” said Santiago Schnell, the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science.
Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize for her part in inventing a technique called chirped pulse amplification, which has allowed doctors to perform corrective eye surgery and manufacturers to cut glass for cellphones. She shared the 2018 prize with her doctoral adviser, Gérard Mourou, for work they published in 1985 while she was at the University of Rochester in New York.
“Professor Strickland has changed modern science and helped to revolutionize laser physics,” Schnell said. “Thanks to her discoveries, laser technology allows humanity to tackle new and challenging scientific and technological problems. We are now able to explore complex interactions between light and matter, accelerate atomic particles or develop new sources of radiation to treat cancers. We are very pleased that she has agreed to accept our inaugural Carrier Science Medal and look forward to her lecture.”