The Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. state of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

in those fields. It is awarded in the five categories of academia, science education, industry, government, and a special category. The award was initiated in 1987 and is sponsored by the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Nominations are reviewed by the Utah State Science Advisory Council before being presented to the governor.

Award winners

1980s

;1987: Academia: *Del Allen,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

*Sidney R. Ash,

Weber State College Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founde ...

*Wilford Hansen, Utah State University * Eugene Loh, University of Utah *James Mac Mahon, Utah State University * William Odell, University of Utah * Robert W. Parry,

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

*Richard Riesenfeld, University of Utah * John Roth, University of Utah * L. Douglas Smoot, Brigham Young University *Milton E. Wadsworth, University of Utah * Homer Walker,

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

Education: *Richard Dix Cloward, Bonneville High School *Shu Ming Chang, Clearfield High School *Wade W. Gleary, Davis High School *Rachelle Argyle, Park City High School *Wendy Hendrickson, Richfield High School Industry: * David Evans,

Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a pioneering American computer firm in the computer graphics field. Its current products are used in digital projection environments like planetariums. Its simulation business, which it sold to Rockwell Collins, sold products ...

* Milton Lee, Lee Scientific *Michael Alder, NPI *Benjamin V. Cox,

Unisys Unisys Corporation is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It provides digital workplace solutions, cloud, applications, and infrastructure solutions, ...

*Wayne Brown, Utah Innovation Center ;1988: Academia: *Douglas Chabries, Brigham Young University *Eldon Gardner, Utah State University *William J. Higuchi University of Utah *Jack Keller, Utah State University * Sung Wan Kim, University of Utah *Carl D. Marti, Jr. Weber State College *Don Olsen, University of Utah *Robert W. Schunk, Utah State University *Robert W. Sidwell, Utah State University Education: *Rober Cefalo, Box Elder High School *RuthAnn Yahne, Layton High School *David G. Rettie,

Olympus High School Olympus High School is a public high school in the Granite School District in Holladay, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Description The school opened on September 1, 1953, with an original enrollment of 1028 students. In the fall of 1960, ...

*Linda Jean Preston, Park City High School *Merrill Webb,

Provo High School Provo High School is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Provo City School District and was the oldest secondary school in the city. In the Summer of 2017 the school district be ...

Industry: * Alan Ashton, WordPerfect ;1989: Academia: * James W. Cronin, University of Utah *Doran J. Baker, Utah State University *Dean F. Peterson, Jr., Utah State University Education: *Pamela P. Giles, Brighton High School *Gerald B. Lord, Granger High School Industry: *Robert A. Schumacker,

*Aaron W. Farr, Jetway Systems *Ronald K. Bell,

1990s

;1990: Academia: *John A. Dixon, University of Utah * Reed M. Izatt, Brigham Young University * Stephen Jacobsen, University of Utah * Fritz Luty, University of Utah *Cyrus M. Mckell, Weber State College *Ronald Ragsdale, University of Utah *John Paul Riley, Utah State University Education: *Dwight O. Brown, Bountiful High School *John W. Barainca, Brighton High School *Michael B. Harris, Layton High School Industry: *Allan Steed,

Space Dynamics Laboratory Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) is a nonprofit government contractor owned by Utah State University. SDL was formed in 1982 from the merger of Utah State University's Electro Dynamics Laboratories (founded in 1959) and the University of Utah's ...

*William Partridge, Technical Research Associates, Inc. ;1991: Academia: *Jerald Bradshaw, Brigham Young University * J. Calvin Giddings, University of Utah *Douglas James, Utah State University *Verlaine McPhie,

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through onl ...

*Gilbert Moore, Utah State University *

Baldomero Olivera Baldomero Olivera (born 1941) is a Filipino chemist known for discovery of many cone snail toxins important for neuroscience. These molecules, called conotoxins, led to a breakthrough in the study of ion channels and neuromuscular synapses. He di ...

, University of Utah *Frank Redd, Utah State University Education: Marcie Wolfe, Mt. Ogden Middle School Government: *Gene Amman,

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

Industry: *Ruth Novak, Hercules Inc. ;1992: Academia: *Joseph Andrade, University of Utah *A. Bruce Bishop, Utah State University *Karin Caldwell, University of Utah *David M. Grant, University of Utah *Levi Hintze, Brigham Young University *Bartell Jensen, Utah State University *J. Bevan Ott, Brigham Young University *Edward B. Walker, Weber State University Education: *Jan Vander Hooft, Brighton High School *Larry Larson, North Cache Middle School *Vern W. Bangerter,

Timpview High School Timpview High School (THS) is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, Provo, Utah, United States. Timpview is a 6A school and is one of the three high schools in the Provo City School District. The current principal (school), princip ...

Industry: * Homer R. Warner,

American College of Medical Informatics The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) is a college of elected fellows from the United States and abroad who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of medical informatics. Initially incorporated in 1984, the o ...

*J.D. Mortensen, Midmid, Inc. *

Ray Noorda Raymond John "Ray" Noorda (19 June 1924 – 9 October 2006) was a United States of America, U.S. computer businessman. He was chief executive officer, CEO of Novell between 1982 and 1994. He also served as chairman of Novell until he was rep ...

, Novell, Inc. ;1993: Academia: *K. L. DeVries, University of Utah *Helga E. T. Kolb, University of Utah *Ronald Sims, Utah State University *

Peter Stang Peter John Stang (born November 17, 1941) is a German American chemist and Distinguished Professor of chemistry at the University of Utah. He was the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' from 2002 to 2020. Biography ...

, University of Utah * Raymond L. White, University of Utah Education: *Larry J. Peterson, Bonneville High School *LaMont Jensen, Clearfield High School Government: *Hellmut H. Doelling,

Utah Geological Survey The Utah Geological Survey is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It also has an office in Cedar City, Utah. It is a division of the

Industry: *J. McKay Anderson, Hercules, Inc. *O. Lew Wood, Quartztronics, Inc. *Raymond J. Ganowsky, Ram Company ;1994: Academia: *

Tracy Hall Howard Tracy Hall (October 20, 1919 – July 25, 2008) was an American physical chemist and one of the early pioneers in the research of synthetic diamonds, using a press of his own design. Early life Howard Tracy Hall was born in Ogden, Uta ...

, Brigham Young University * Raymond Gesteland, University of Utah *Sherman Coleman, University of Utah *William Lee Stokes, University of Utah *Linda Powers, Utah State University Education: *Ty Robinson, Spanish Fork Intermediate Government: *Kevin T. Jones, Division of Utah State History Industry: *Keith Wilson, Dynix *Errol P. EerNisse, Quartztronics ;1995: Academia: *Peter F. Gerity, Utah State University * David W. Pershing, University of Utah *C. Dale Poulter, University of Utah * Thomas G. Stockham, University of Utah Education: *Sherman Dickman,

Salt Lake City School District The Salt Lake City School District (SLCSD) is the oldest public school district in Utah. Boundaries for the district are identical to the city limits for Salt Lake City. Employing about 1,300 teachers who instruct about 25,000 students K-12, the ...

Government: *Charles B. Hunt,

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

Industry: *

Mark Skolnick Mark Henry Skolnick (born January 28, 1946) is an American geneticist and the founder of Myriad Genetics Inc, an American molecular diagnostic company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. His highest cited paper is "Construction of a genetic linkage map ...

Myriad Genetics Myriad Genetics, Inc. is an American genetic testing and precision medicine company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Myriad employs a number of proprietary technologies that permit doctors and patients to understand the genetic bas ...

;1996: Academia: *C. Anthon Ernstrom, Utah State University * Richard A. Normann, University of Utah *Morris Robbins, Brigham Young University Education: *Walter Saunders, Utah State University Government: *Von Del Chamberlain, Hansen Planetarium *Walter Arabasz, University of Utah Industry: *Dinesh Patel, TheraTech, Inc. *Harold Ritchey,

Thiokol Thiokol (variously Thiokol Chemical Corporation(/Company), Morton Thiokol Inc., Cordant Technologies Inc., Thiokol Propulsion, AIC Group, ATK Thiokol, ATK Launch Systems Group; finally Orbital ATK before becoming part of Northrop Grumman) was an ...

*Laurence Reaveley, University of Utah ;1997: Academia *Gerald B. Stringfellow, University of Utah Education: *Rose Marie Voce, Jackson Elementary Industry: *Bryant F. Anderson, Lockheed Martin *Peter Meldrum,

*Dan Fischer, Ultradent Products, Inc. ;1998: Academia: *John O. Evans, Utah State University *Spotswood Spruance, University of Utah Education: *Joseph Hugh Baird, Brigham Young University *Duane Merrell, Emery High School Government: *David Madsen,

Utah Geological Survey The Utah Geological Survey is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It also has an office in Cedar City, Utah. It is a division of the

Industry: *David Burt,

;1999: Academia: *

Christopher R. Johnson Christopher Ray Johnson (born January 17, 1960, in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American computer scientist. He is a distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Utah, and founding director of the Scientific Computing and Imagi ...

, University of Utah * James Ehleringer, University of Utah *Stephen M. Prescott, University of Utah *Marvin N. Tolman, Brigham Young University ED *Don Carl Smellie, Utah State University ED Government: *Eva C. Nieminski,

Utah Department of Environmental Quality The Utah Department of Environmental Quality is a state governmental organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah. DEQ's mission is to safeguard public health and our quality of life by protecting and enhancing the environment. DEQ implements State ...

*Alan J. Mohr,

Dugway Proving Grounds Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway Pr ...

*Bruce Barrett, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Industry: *Robert F. Keller, Alliant Techsystems *Marlin Shelley, Cirris Systems Corporation

2000s

;2000: Academia: *Thomas Henderson, University of Utah *William Carroll, University of Utah *Gary Belovsky, Utah State University Education: *Richard Tolman, Brigham Young University *Donald Burge,

College of Eastern Utah Utah State University Eastern (USU Eastern) is a public regional college within the Utah State Universitybr>system The USU Eastern campus is located in Price, Utah, United States. Founded as Carbon College in 1937, the college joined the Universi ...

*Donald Jensen, Utah State University Government: *James Kohler, Bureau of Land Management *Stanley Perkes, Bureau of Land Management *James Bowers, Dugway Proving Grounds *Suzanne Winters, The Escalante Center Industry: *Gilson Newman Bingham Team: Bradley S. Gilson, Mark Newman, Judd Lawrence, Scott Hill *James Boye,

Varian Medical Systems Varian Medical Systems is an American radiation oncology treatments and software maker based in Palo Alto, California. Their medical devices include linear accelerators (LINACs) and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions wi ...

;2001: Academia: * Mary Beckerle, University of Utah *Gail Bingham, Utah State University Education: *Janet Ross, Four Corners School Government: *Doyle Stephens,

US Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

Industry: *Bob Randolph, Alliant Techsystems ;2002: Academia: *Steven D. Aust, Utah State University *Randall W. Burt, University of Utah *Om P. Gandhi, University of Utah Industry: *Larry J. Ashton, Rocky Mountain Composites, Inc. *Hunter Jackson,

NPS Pharmaceuticals Shire plc was a UK-founded Jersey-registered specialty biopharmaceutical company. Originating in the United Kingdom with an operational base in the United States, its brands and products included Vyvanse, Lialda, and Adderall XR. Shire was a ...

*Bill Jordan Pope, Diamicron, Inc. Education: *Kathleen P. Ochsenbein, Roy Junior High School Special: *

Mario Capecchi Mario Ramberg Capecchi (born 6 October 1937) is an Italian-born molecular geneticist and a co-awardee of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering a method to create mice in which a specific gene is turned off, known as knock ...

, University of Utah ;2003: Academia: *Clair Batty, Utah State University *David Bowles, Utah State University *Carl Wittwer, University of Utah Education: *Virgina Ord, Davis School District *William Smith, Granite School District Government: *Jerry Miller,

US Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

*Brett Moulding, Utah State Office of Education Industry: *Fred Lampropoulos, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. *Ashok Joshi, Ceramatec, Inc. ;2004: Academia: *A. Lorris Betz, University of Utah * Noelle E. Cockett, Utah State University *Karl Gordon Lark, University of Utah *Joel S. Miller, University of Utah *

C. Arden Pope C. Arden Pope III (born c. 1954) is an American professor of economics at Brigham Young University and one of the world's foremost experts in environmental science. He received his B.S. from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1978 and his Ph.D. ...

, Brigham Young University *Wynn R. Walker, Utah State University Education: *Richard Halterman,

Granite School District The Granite School District spreads across central Salt Lake County, Utah, serving West Valley City, Millcreek, Taylorsville, South Salt Lake, and Holladay; Kearns and Magna Townships; and parts of West Jordan, Murray and Cottonwood Heights. ...

Government: *Michael Glass, Dugway Proving Ground Industry: *Stephen R. Carter, Novell, Inc. Special: *Rex S. Spendlove, HyClone ;2005: Academia: *David W. Hoeppner, University of Utah * Daniel L. Simmons, Brigham Young University *Z. Valy Vardeny, University of Utah Education *Barbara Gentry,

Jordan School District Jordan School District is a school district in the southwestern portion of Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It now employs 3,364 teachers and other licensed personnel who educate more than 57,800 students. An additional 3,092 employees provi ...

*Donna Lee Trease, Davis County School District Government: *Loren Morton, Utah Department of Environmental Quality Industry: *Dean Lester, ATK

James LeVoy Sorenson James LeVoy Sorenson (July 30, 1921 – January 20, 2008) was an American businessman, the founder of Sorenson Companies, a parent company of 32 corporations. A noted philanthropist, he was the richest man in Utah with an estimated net wort ...

, Sorenson Companies Special: *Richard K. Koehn, SentrX Surgical, Inc. *Richard W. Grow, University of Utah ;2006: Academia: *Merrill W. Beckstead, Brigham Young University * Jan D. Miller, University of Utah * Pierre Sokolsky, University of Utah * Anil Virkar, University of Utah Education: *Gina Sanzenbacher, Jordan Applied Technology Center Government: *Theron Miller, Utah Department of Environmental Quality Industry: *Glenn D. Prestwich, Carbylan BioSurgery, Inc. ;2007: Academia: *Chris Ireland, University of Utah *Thomas Wilkerson, Utah State University *Bonnie Baxter, Westminster College Education: *Paul Nance, Jordan School District Government: *Greg Jones,

Moran Eye Center The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah is an ophthalmology clinical care and research facility in the Mountain West. Physicians provide comprehensive care in all ophthalmic subspecialties. Moran supports 15 research laboratories t ...

Industry: *Jerry R. Nelson, Nelson Laboratories, Inc. * Josh James,

Omniture Omniture is an online marketing and web analytics business unit in Orem, Utah. It was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2009. Until 2011, Omniture operated as a business unit within Adobe as the "Omniture Business Unit", but as of 2012 Adobe began reti ...

Special: *Jack Sunderlage, ContentWatch ;2008: Academia: *Brent Adams, Brigham Young University *David S. Chapman, University of Utah Education: *Lee Siegel, University of Utah *Bonnie Bourgeous, Clearfield High School *Vickie Ahlstrom, Sego Lily Elementary Industry: *H. Dewayne Ashmead, Albion Laboratories, Inc. Government: *David Wakefield, Utah Department of Public Safety/Forensic Services Special: *

, University of Utah ;2009: Academia: *Randall J. Olsen, Moran Eye Center Education: *W. Farrell Edwards, Utah State University *Glen Westbroek,

Alpine School District Alpine School District is the primary school district in northern Utah County, Utah, United States The district covers Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Fort, Cedar Hills, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Highland, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Pleasant Grove, ...

*National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, Utah State University Industry: *Ashok C. Khandkar, Amedica Corp *Reaveley Engineers & Associates Government: *William R. Lund, Utah Geological Survey

2010s

;2010 Academia: *Paul Israelsen, Utah State University *

Peter B. Armentrout Peter B. Armentrout (born 1953) is a researcher in thermochemistry, kinetics, and dynamics of simple and complex chemical reactions. He is a Chemistry Professor at the University of Utah. Career Armentrout received his B.S. degree from Case W ...

, University of Utah Education: *Louisa Stark, Genetic Science Learning Center *Doug Panee, Oak Canyon Jr. High Industry: *Dennis Farrar, Upstart Ventures *D. Clark Turner, Aribex, Inc Government: *Kevin Jensen, Forage & Range Research Lab ;2011 Academia: *Byard D. Wood, Utah State University * Bruce Bugbee, Utah State University *Edward M. Eyring, University of Utah Education: * Hugo Rossi, University of Utah Industry: *Tim Miller, Echelon Biosciences *Kelly B. Powers, CR Bard Access Systems Government: *Amanda Smith, Department of Environmental Quality Special: *Richard R. Nelson, Utah Technology Council *Gary Harter, Governor's Office of Economic Development *Jeff Edwards, EDCUtah *Steve Rodgers, EmergenTek ;2012 Academia: *David Kieda, University of Utah *Geraldine Mineau University of Utah * Thure E. Cerling, University of Utah Education: *Adam Johnston, Weber State University *Amy Pace, Open High School of Utah Industry: *Dale Taylor, Ceramics Material Technologies *Theodore Stanley, Anesta and ZARS Government: *Ted McAleer,

USTAR The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is a technology-based economic development agency funded by the state of Utah. The organization works to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies throug ...

*Nicole Toomey Davis, Enclavix, LLC *Scott Anderson,

Zions Bank Zions Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Zions Bancorporation originated as Keystone Insurance and Investment Co., a Utah Corporation, in April 1955. In April 1960, Keystone, together with several in ...

;2013 Academia: *Henry S. White, University of Utah ACA *Kenneth L. White, Utah State University ACA Education: *Aloysius S. Church, University of Utah Industry: *

IM Flash Technologies IM Flash Technologies, LLC was the semiconductor company founded in January 2006, by Intel Corporation and Micron Technology, Inc. IM Flash produced 3D XPoint used in data centers and high end computers. It had a 300mm wafer fab in Lehi, Utah, Un ...

*Larry Grandia, Health Catalyst *Larry Rigby, Larada Sciences Government: *Tamara Goetz, Utah Valley University ;2014 Academia: * Phyllis Coley, University of Utah * Erik Jorgensen, University of Utah Education: *Christine Celestino, Juan Diego Catholic High School *Helen Hu, Westminster College Industry: *Niel Holt,

*Ronald Weiss, ARUP Laboratories * US Synthetic Special: *Troy D’Ambrosio, University of Utah ;2015 Academia: * Noelle E. Cockett, Utah State University *Joel Harris, University of Utah Education: *Michelle Baker, Utah State University *Christine Hailey, Utah State University *Richard B. Brown, University of Utah *Paul Hill, Utah State University Industry: *Susan Opp,

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training d ...

*Rich Linder, CoNextions Medical *Nelson Laboratories Special: *Sarah George, University of Utah *Tom Parks, University of Utah ;2016 Academia: * Cynthia Burrows, University of Utah *Cynthia Furse, University of Utah *Timothy McLain, Brigham Young University *Terry Messmer, Utah State University *John Morrey, Utah State University *Kyle Rollins, Brigham Young University Education: *Debra Spielmaker, Utah State University *Adam Beehler, University of Utah Industry: *ENVE Composites *Lawrence Thatcher, The Thatcher Company Government: *Robert Baskin, US Geological Survey Special: * Vivian S. Lee, University of Utah

External links

Governors Medals for Science and Technology winners

References

{{reflist Awards established in 1987 1987 establishments in Utah Government of Utah State awards and decorations of the United States Utah culture Science and technology in Utah