"These researchers have made significant contributions to the national, economic, and energy security of the United States," Secretary Chu said. "I congratulate the winners and thank them for their work on behalf of the Department and the Nation."

The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of Dr. Ernest Orlando Lawrence who invented the cyclotron (a particle accelerator), and after whom two major Energy Department laboratories in Berkeley and Livermore, California are named.

Fusion researcher Riccard Betti was among those selected. His citation reads:

Riccardo Betti (University of Rochester) - Fusion and Plasma Sciences

Riccardo Betti will be honored for a series of impactful theoretical discoveries in the physics of inertial confinement fusion including seminal transformative work on thermonuclear ignition, hydrodynamic instabilities and implosion dynamics, and the development of innovative approaches to ignition and high energy gains.

Congratulations Riccardo for this much deserved honor.

He can be reached at betti@me.rochester.edu