Brandeis Professors Eve Marder and Greg Petsko Win National Medal of Science
Oct. 24, 2023
Dear Brandeis Community,
I am very proud to inform you that Eve Marder ’69, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience and a Brandeis University professor, and Greg Petsko, Brandeis Trustee and professor of biochemistry and chemistry emeritus, have each been awarded National Medals of Science by President Joe Biden.
The National Medal of Science is the highest recognition for scientists and engineers awarded in the United States. I was delighted to join Eve and Greg in the East Room of the White House today as they received their medals from the president.
Both of these remarkable individuals have conducted significant scientific research that has had a major impact on repairing the world, and both have trained generations of Brandeisians to go out and do the same. Eve and Greg have dedicated much of their careers to our university, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
According to the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation, Eve, who first joined the Brandeis faculty in 1978, is recognized for "her visionary application of theoretical and experimental approaches to understanding neural circuits; and her inspirational advocacy of basic science." Here at Brandeis, she has been a treasured mentor to many fellow scientists who are now leaders in their own rights.
Greg is honored for "his role in founding structural enzymology, along with his commitment to educating the public about brain health," which "have empowered people around the world and raised the ambitions of our nation regarding aging with dignity." His Petsko Lab, based at Brigham and Women's Hospital, has made important advances in understanding the causes of neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.
It has been an extraordinary October for Brandeis scientists. Earlier this month, Drew Weissman ’81, MA’81, P’15, H’23, was named a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the modification of nucleic acids for RNA therapeutics, science that led to Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines.
Again and again, Brandeis scientists have been recognized for the scope and impact of the research being conducted in our labs here in Waltham, and beyond. Today, let's celebrate Eve and Greg, their many scientific accomplishments and all that they have meant to our university, and our students, faculty, and staff over the course of their time here.
My sincere congratulations to both of them.
Sincerely,
Ron Liebowitz