The Rev. Carrier Medal and Lecture
The Rev. Joseph Carrier C.S.C. Science Medal and Lecture
The Rev. Joseph Carrier C.S.C. Science Medal is the most prestigious award presented by the College of Science, and is given for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science. It is awarded annually, alternating between the mathematical, physical, chemical, and biological sciences, and is accompanied by a monetary gift. The medalists are invited to give a lecture on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
The Rev. Carrier Medal is named after The Rev. Joseph Celestine Basile Carrier, C.S.C., who is recognized as the first director of the science program at the University of Notre Dame in 1865, when the College of Science was established as a department. Carrier was born in France in 1833, and was interested in the natural sciences from an early age. He immigrated to the United States, joined the University of Notre Dame in 1860, and was ordained in 1861. Shortly thereafter, Father Carrier was assigned to serve as an Army chaplain from 1863 to 1865 during the Civil War.
An accomplished and respected botanist, Rev. Carrier founded the natural science museum and herbarium at Notre Dame, curating thousands of specimens from around the world.
Annual calls for nominations for the Rev. Carrier Medal will be open to national and international senior scientists. Any candidate nominations will remain valid and shall be considered by the award selection committee throughout three nomination cycles. Teams or groups may be nominated for this award as well. For further information or to submit a nomination, please send us an email.
2023 Recipient: Thomas C. Südhof, M.D.
He will accept the Rev. Carrier Medal at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 23 in the Dahnke Ballroom, on the seventh floor of the Duncan Student Center at Notre Dame Stadium. His lecture, “Toward a Cell Biology of Alzheimer’s Disease,” will describe his laboratory’s recent studies that illustrate how investigations into the cell biology of neurons and glia have the potential to provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease, and might lead to better therapies.
View the 2023 event and add it to your calendar
2022 Recipient: Donna Strickland, Ph.D.
Donna Strickland, Ph.D., professor of physics at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, is the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Strickland, who helped revolutionize laser physics, shared the prize with French laser physicist Gerard Mourou. They paved the way toward the shortest and most intense laser pulses created by humankind. Her research has been applied in everything from laser eye surgery to laser printers.