Release Date: March 31, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC - To recognize outstanding scientific and technological achievements in coal, petroleum, or natural gas, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy is inviting the fossil fuel research community to nominate candidates for the 2003 Homer H. Lowry Award.

The deadline for receiving nominations is June 13, 2003. The winner will be announced this fall.

Last year, Dr. L. Douglas Smoot of Brigham Young University won the prestigious award for his groundbreaking work in the computer modeling of fuel combustion and the formation and prevention of air pollutants. Other past recipients include Dr. Irving Wender of the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. William Brigham of Stanford University, Dr. Henry Linden, formerly president of the Gas Research Institute, Dr. Heinz Heinemann of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Dr. Adel Sarofim of the University of Utah.

In 1985 the Secretary of Energy established the Lowry Award to recognize a living citizen of the United States whose scientific or technological achievements have advanced the understanding and use of fossil fuels. This award 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, considered the standard work of reference for coal scientists and technologists.