Release Date: March 13, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy is reviving the Homer H. Lowry Award - a prize that recognizes a U.S. scientist or engineer who has made outstanding contributions to the science and technology of coal, petroleum or natural gas.

The office has issued a nationwide call for nominations. The deadline is May 20, 2002, and the winner will be announced this fall.

The Lowry Award was established in 1985 by the Secretary of Energy to recognize a living citizen of the United States whose scientific or technological achievements have advanced the understanding and use of fossil fuels. It consists of a citation, a gold medal and a $25,000 cash award.

The award honors Dr. Homer H. Lowry, the internationally known chemist who founded the Carnegie Institute of Technology's Coal Research Laboratories and who edited Chemistry of Coal Utilization. The book is considered the standard work of reference for coal scientists and technologists.

Some of the previous recipients include Dr. Irving Wender of the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. William Brigham of Stanford University, Dr. Henry Linden (former president of the Gas Research Institute), Dr. Heinz Heinemann of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Dr. Adel Sarofim of the University of Utah.

The last time the Department presented the Lowry award was in 1995. The Department's Fossil Energy Office decided to resume the award to elevate awareness within the industry and the general public of the important contributions made by scientists and engineers who are working to improve the production and use of fuels that currently supply more than 85 percent of the Nation's energy.