"This is a fabulous feeling," said Rosen. "I feel humble knowing the company of people I am in. These winners were pioneers in this field and I am honored to be a part of them."

Rosen is recognized internationally for major contributions to the development of laboratory soft X-ray lasers, and to the design and analysis of complex high energy density and ICF target physics experiments, elucidating electron and radiation transport, and the properties of hot dense matter. These experiments were carried out on a long line of high power lasers at LLNL and, along with the subsequent work of many others, formed the foundation for the national science-based stockpile stewardship effort and contributed to DOE approval of the National Ignition Facility.

The American Physical Society has also recognized Rosen's outstanding work by naming him a Fellow, Centennial Lecturer, Distinguished Lecturer in plasma physics, and recipient of its Excellence in Plasma Physics Award. He has also received the Award of Excellence from the Department of Energy and has been appointed as one the first Teller Fellows at LLNL.

Rosen credits his colleagues at the Lab with much of his success. "I don't think I could have accomplished any of this working at a university alone," he said. "This award is a tribute to my colleagues - the talented people at the Lab who actually carry out the experiments, and the computational people who write the codes. Without their help I would not be here."

The Teller Medal was created in honor of LLNL Director Emeritus Edward Teller, who is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in inertial fusion sciences. The award has been granted to 18 scientists from nine countries in previous years.

The awards will be presented at a conference Sept. 12 in Kyoto, Japan. The conference, organized by Osaka University, the University of California and Ecole Polytechnique, will bring together about 400 scientists and engineers from all parts of the world to compare notes on the latest research in inertial fusion.

Rosen's fellow recipient, Stefano Atzeni, who did much of the research for his Teller award while he was at the Frascati laboratories of ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment), is being honored because of his leading contributions to understanding and teaching the high energy density physics related to Inertial Confinement Fusion.