Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) named three National Laboratory scientists as DOE Office of Science Distinguished Scientists Fellows. The award, authorized by the America COMPETES Act and bestowed on National Laboratory scientists with outstanding records of achievement, provides each Fellow with $1 million over three years to be devoted to a project or projects of the Fellow’s choosing.

“The three Distinguished Scientists Fellows named this year represent well the impressive breadth and depth of scientific expertise across the DOE National Laboratory system,” said Dr. Chris Fall, Director of DOE’s Office of Science. “We congratulate these distinguished scientists for their extraordinary accomplishments and look forward to their achievements over the next three years and beyond.”

Candidates were nominated by their individual laboratories and chosen by competitive peer review. The 2020 Fellows include:

• Jacqueline Chen – Sandia National Laboratories/California, “For advancing frontiers in the fields of combustion and high-performance computing through petascale direct numerical simulations and for mentoring and inspiring generations of researchers.”

• James De Yoreo – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, “For transformational discoveries that have reshaped our understanding of materials synthesis from complex nucleation pathways to hierarchical assembly, for leadership in National Laboratory-University partnerships, and for dedication to mentoring the next generation of scientists.”

• Cynthia Keppel – Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, “For contributions to the exploration of the quark structure of hadrons and nuclei through electron scattering, and creating successful collaborations across disciplines, including electron and neutrino scattering, theory and experiment, and nuclear and medical applications.”

Awards were conferred at a virtual celebratory announcement with Office of Science leadership and laboratory directors from Sandia National Laboratories, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.