NAE Announces 2022 Award Winners

On Sunday, Oct. 2, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) will present three awards for extraordinary impact on the engineering profession. The Simon Ramo Founders Award will be presented to Rafael L. Reif for pioneering work and leadership advancing semiconductor technology, online learning, entrepreneurship, computing, work of the future, and climate and sustainability. The Arthur M. Bueche Award will be presented to retired General Ellen M. Pawlikowski for exceptional leadership of the development of game-changing National Security Space systems, and the management of innovative, all-domain Aerospace systems. The Gibbs Brothers Medal will be presented to retired Admiral Frank L. Bowman for life-long marine engineering contributions to shipboard nuclear power excellence and for leadership of the U.S. nuclear Navy. The awards will be presented as part of the NAE Annual Meeting taking place October 2-3. The theme of the event is Energy Transitions.

Rafael L. Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 2012, leads the institute’s pioneering efforts to help redefine the future of higher education. A champion for both fundamental science and interdisciplinary, problem-centered research, he is driving initiatives to accelerate high-impact solutions to the urgent challenges of climate change and pursuing an aggressive agenda to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. In education, Dr. Reif has focused on the development of online learning. The findings of his Task Force on the Future of MIT Education spurred rapid adoption of blended learning models in MIT classrooms, inspired the creation of new forms of credentialing, expanded educational access for learners around the globe, and equipped MIT to respond to covid-19 with a quick pivot to remote learning. In May 2021 he and his leadership team mobilized the institute’s strengths to address the climate crisis through “Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade.” Dr. Reif has also made it a priority to equip the next generation of innovators with the tools to implement their ideas. In 2016 MIT launched The Engine, a firm that helps new ventures turn “tough technologies” into innovations that address humanity’s great challenges. In 2018, to advance the frontier of human and machine intelligence, Dr. Reif announced the MIT Quest for Intelligence and launched the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future for technologist’s responsibility to understand the societal impacts of automation. Also that year, he announced the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, the most significant reshaping of MIT since the 1950s. In addition, he has led the creation of MIT.nano, a world-class facility for nanoscience and engineering research in support of the national strategy for reasserting U.S. leadership in semiconductors and micro- and nanoelectronics. A member of the MIT faculty since 1980, Dr. Reif was previously director of MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and provost. He is an inventor on 13 patents. He earned his BS from the University of Carabobo in Venezuela, and his MS and PhD from Stanford University, all in electrical engineering.

Ellen M. Pawlikowski is an independent corporate director providing expertise on strategic planning, program management, logistics, and research and development. She serves on the public boards of directors for the Raytheon Company, RPM International, and Velo3D. Pawlikowski was the third woman to achieve the rank of General in the U.S. Air Force. In her last assignment, she served as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Pawlikowski's career has spanned a variety of technical management, leadership, and staff positions. As a general officer, she commanded the MILSATCOM Systems Wing, AF element of the National Reconnaissance Office, AF Research Laboratory, Space and Missile Systems Center, and AF Materiel Command. She also served as program director and program executive officer for several multibillion-dollar military system acquisitions. Pawlikowski is nationally recognized for her leadership and technical management acumen. Among her honors are the Women in Aerospace Lifetime Achievement Award, the Peter B. Teets Award from the National Defense Industry Association, and the Air Force Association Executive Management Award. She is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She entered the Air Force in 1978 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She then attended the University of California, Berkeley as a Fannie and John Hertz Foundation fellow and received a doctorate in chemical engineering in December 1981.

Frank L. “Skip” Bowman, president of Strategic Decisions, LLC, in Maryland, served 38 years in the U.S. Navy. He was director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, the third successor to Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, and concurrently deputy administrator, Naval Reactors, in the National Nuclear Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy, with responsibility for the operations of more than 100 reactors aboard the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines, four Navy training sites, and two DOE laboratories. As a flag officer he also served on the Joint Staff as director of Political-Military Affairs and as Chief of Naval Personnel. At sea, he commanded the nuclear submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) and the submarine tender USS Holland (AS 32). After his navy career, Bowman was president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents more than 300 domestic and international corporations and organizations involved in nuclear energy and related technologies. Nationally and internationally recognized, Bowman was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the Queen of England in 2005, selected for the Robert S. Landauer Memorial Lecture Award in 2006 for contributions to radiological physics and radiation health protection, and in 2007 designated an Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government. He was elected to the NAE in 2009. He is an emeritus member of the American Nuclear Society. He serves on the board of directors of Naval & Nuclear Technologies LLP, the CNA Military Advisory Board, and the National Security Advisory Council of the Center for U.S. Global Engagement. He co-chaired a National Academies study on the Security Implications of Climate Change for Naval Forces. He served on the BP Board of Directors and on the BP Safety Review Panel investigating the BP Texas City refinery tragedy. He was a director of the National Energy Foundation, U.S. Naval Submarine League, and U.S. Energy Association and served on the Duke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State, and University of Tennessee Nuclear Engineering Visiting Committees. Bowman is a 1966 graduate of Duke University in mathematics and earned MS degrees in nuclear engineering and naval architecture/marine engineering from MIT in 1973.

Founded in 1964, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. Its mission is to advance the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering.

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