The American Physical Society has awarded its Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Assistance to pioneer fusion researcher Marshall N. Rosenbluth.

The citataion reads: "For inspirational leadership and personal caring in the development of skills and commitment of the succeeding generation of scientific leaders in plasma physics and for many years of continual successful promotion and participation in international scientific collaborations."

Rosenbluth received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1949 and spent a year as an instructor at Stanford. In 1950 he moved to Los Alamos, where he was heavily involved in the early work on the physics of thermonuclear explosions.. In 1953 he began to focus his attention and research on the promise of fusion energy. During the course of his distinguished career, he made countless scientific contributions to the field. He worked at many institutions, including General Atomics, Princeton, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California at San Diego, his present primary affiliation.

He has received numerous other awards, including Department of Energy and Presidential citations. He was a recipient of Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award in 1987 and its Distinguished Career Award in 1997.