In announcing the selections, Martin Marietta Energy Systems President Gordon Fee said such recognition is accorded on an extremely limited basis to individuals whose contributions have been both significant and continually high over a number of years.
In praising the recipients of the honor, Fee said the accomplishments characterize "the innovation, dedication, and significance of your extraordinary contributions to research and development programs in Energy Systems."
Lowndes, of ORNL's Solid State Division, manages research programs in semiconductor physics, thin films, and photovoltaic materials. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Stanford University and was awarded a doctoral degree in solid state physics from the University of Colorado. In 1968, he received a two-year National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Sussex in England.
Before joining ORNL in 1979, Lowndes taught physics at the University of Oregon for 10 years and served as a guest professor of physics at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Since 1986, he has been a full professor in the materials science and engineering department at the University of Tennessee on a part-time basis.
Lowndes is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a member of the Materials Research Society and the American Section of the International Solar Energy Society.
He is the author or co-author of more than 185 articles in refereed journal and books, four invited chapters in three books, and 30 invited lectures at national and international conferences. Lowndes has three patents granted and pending.
Lowndes lives in Knoxville with his wife, Gayle. They have two children, Erik and Katherine.
Stephenson is chief engineer in Martin Marietta Energy Systems' Waste Management Organization. Since joining the organization in 1965, his research has covered uranium conservation, enrichment and recycle. Most recently, he has overseen independent technical assessments and engineering studies related to waste management issues. He received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee. In 1985, he attended the University of Pittsburgh management program for executives. Stephenson is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Sigma Xi and the American Society of Engineering Management.
He has received several distinguished performance awards, including Martin Marietta Energy Systems' Engineer of the Year in 1986. He was also awarded Martin Marietta Corporation's Thomas Jefferson Cup in 1986 for outstanding technical direction of key environmental and production projects for the Y-12 engineering and manufacturing complex.
He is the author or co-author of more than 40 technical publications and holds seven patents.
Stephenson lives in Oak Ridge with his wife, Ellen. They have four children, Michael, Angela, Tabitha and Bryan.
Vo-Dinh, of ORNL's Health Sciences Research Division, is the group leader of Advanced Monitoring Development. Since joining ORNL in 1977, he has focused his research on chemical analysis, environmental monitoring and human health protection. A native of Vietnam, Vo-Dinh received a bachelor's degree in physics and was awarded a doctoral degree in physical chemistry from the Switzerland's ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich.
Vo-Dinh is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists and past president of the International Society on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds; he is also the U.S. delegate to the NATO Industrial Advisory Group. Currently, he is the associate editor of two international scientific journals, ANALUSIS and Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds. He has served as chairman of numerous international conferences in the U.S. and Europe, is editor of a book series on environmental technologies and serves on the editorial board of several other international journals.
He has received numerous awards for his research, including four R&D 100 awards from Research and Development magazine in 1981, 1987, 1992 and 1994, the Gold Metal Award from the Society for Applied Spectroscopy in 1988, the Medal Languedoc-Roussillion Award from France in 1989, two International Hall of Fame Awards from the Inventors Club of America in 1992 and 1993, and the Technology Transfer Award in 1986 from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.
He is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications and five books, and holds several patents.
Vo-Dinh lives in Knoxville with his wife, Kim-Chi. They have one daughter, Jade.
Martin Marietta Energy Systems manages the three Oak Ridge facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy: the Oak Ridge K-25 Site, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.