In Review
(Photo: Ryan K. Morris)SCIENTIFIC SCENE: “It’s no exaggeration to say that the scientists and innovators in this room have saved lives, improved our health and well-being, helped unleash whole new industries and millions of jobs, and transformed the way we work and learn and communicate,” President Barack Obama said as he presented Esther Conwell ’44 (MS), a professor of chemistry who also holds an appointment in physics, and other honorees with National Medals of Science. “This incredible contribution serves as proof, not only of their incredible creativity and skill, but of the promise of science itself.” A member of the Rochester faculty since the 1990s, Conwell is widely recognized for her research on how electrons move through materials, work that was crucial to the development of semiconductors and the electronic devices, including computers, cell phones, and printers, that rely on them.
