2006-12-11 | SCIENCE
NASA Advisor on the Search for Life to Receive Medal of Freedom

NASA Dr. Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel-winning microbiolgist whose advice helped create NASA's early biology programs, will receive the Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. Dr. Lederberg became interested in exobiology -- the study of life beyond Earth -- in the 1950s, as interest in exploring space began to build in the United States and other countries.

Lederberg has remained active with NASA in the 21st century. In 2000, Baruch Blumberg, then the director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute and a Nobel Laureate himself, included Lederberg on his "Director's Science Council," which consisted of 10 members, most of which were Nobel Laureates with expertise ranging from physics to molecular biology. Dr. Lederberg continues to be affiliated with institute activities and recently served as a reviewer for the joint NAI-American Philosophical Society Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology.

+ Read more about Dr. Lederberg and NASA's early efforts in exobiology and the Viking program in the NASA publication "On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958-1978."

+ Read the White House press release on all the Medal of Freedom recipients.

The preceding news links are provided as a public service for interested users. The views and claims expressed in external internet sites are not necessarily those of NASA.