Presidential Early Career Award for for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

On November 1, 2007, I traveled to Washington DC to receive a 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Established in 1996, PECASE represents the highest honor that any young scientist or engineer can receive in the United States. I also received a Department of Energy's Office of Defense Program's Early Career Scientist and Engineer Award.

The PECASE award recognized my research as well as my role in establishing UC Merced: "Shawn Newsam (University of California, Merced) received the Award for his outstanding research in image processing, pattern recognition, and data mining, and for his leading role in educating young scientists and engineers by developing a new and innovative academic program in computer science and engineering."

Early in the day, there was an award cermony for the DOE awardees at DOE headquarters in the Forrestal Building on Independence Ave. The conference room in which the ceremony was held had a fanstastic view of the Mall including the original Smithsonian building. The image on the right shows the eight awardees with Principal Deputy Administrator for National Nuclear Security William C. Ostendorff (left), Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell (middle), and DOE Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach (right).


Later in the morning, there was an awards cermony for all 58 PECASE awardees in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building which is part of the White House complex. The image on the right shows me receiving the PECASE certificate from John H. Marburger III, Science Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (left), and Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, DOE Under Secretary for Science (right). After the ceremony, a reception was held in the Indian Treaty Room.


In the afternoon, the PECASE awardees were given a private tour of the White House by a Secret Service agent who doubles as a docent. We then had our photograph taken with the President on the steps of the North Portico. The President chatted with us for a while.


Here is the PECASE certificate I received at the ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Here is a letter of congratulations I received from Robert C. Dynes, President of the University of California.

Press relating to my awards can be found here.