Computing’s own Richard Tapia, University Professor and Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering at Rice University, will receive the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony this fall. The National Medal of Science is the highest government honor the United States bestows on scientists and engineers. Six other scientists will also receive the award this year. They are Jacqueline K. Barton, Ralph L. Brinster, Shu Chien, Rudolf Jaenisch, Peter J. Stang, and Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan. More about the Medal and the other recipients can be found here.

Among Dr. Tapia’s previous numerous honors and awards are the inaugural A. Nico Habermann award from CRA in 1994, the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement from AAAS in 1997, the Reginald H. Jones Distinguished Service Award by NACME in 2001, and the SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession in 2004. His work with increasing diversity in computing is celebrated every other year with the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference. More on his work and life can be found on his website.