Houck was nominated for the award by the Department of Defense, while Shaevitz’s name was put forward by the National Science Foundation in recognition of his work in both physics and genomics. Houck joined the University faculty in 2008, while Shaevitz joined in 2007.
“Science and technology have long been at the core of America’s economic strength and global leadership,” Obama said when announcing this year’s 85 recipients on Friday. “I am confident that these individuals, who have shown such tremendous promise so early in their careers, will go on to make breakthroughs and discoveries that will continue to move our nation forward in the years ahead.”
Though the White House did not officially announce the recipients until Friday, Houck and Shaevitz said they were notified via e-mail a month prior to the announcement.
The excitement has not worn off for either recipient.
“It’s very exciting and it’s clearly a very big honor,” Houck said. “It’s very humbling.”
“I don’t think it’s the kind of thing you expect. It’s a pretty special honor,” Shaevitz said, adding that the group of recipients features “a lot of people I know and respect a lot.”
Houck studies micro-level electronics, and hopes to build the first quantum computer. He graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 2000 before earning a Ph.D. in experimental physics from Harvard and pursuing postdoctoral research at Yale.
Houck was named a Sloan Research Fellow and was recognized as one of the top 35 young innovators in 2009 by Technology Review magazine.
Shaevitz, also a Sloan Research Fellow, explores mechanical forces at the cellular level. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from Stanford and did postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, as a Miller Research Fellow.
The awards are distributed by John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and were established in 1996 by President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Both Houck and Shaevitz will attend a special ceremony at the White House held in their honor in the near future, although the date remains to be scheduled.
“I guess between running the country and all of that, the president will squeeze us in somewhere,” Houck joked.
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