Penn State is honoring five distinguished alumni within the science community with the Outstanding Science Alumni Award, which has been given since 1995. The award is the highest recognition in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State. The five alumni being presented with this award are Eliav Barr, Gary R. Fleisher, Howard R. Gordon, Joellen M. Schildkraut, and Robert C. Shaler.

Here’s a little more about the recipients, via Penn State Live.

Eliav Barr, graduating with a bachelor’s from Penn State in 1984, runs the Infectious Disease Project at Merck as the Vice President. Barr ran clinical trials for the prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV), in which he evaluated Gardasil’s economic viability as well as long-term efficacy. Barr is also currently involved in researching Hepatitis-C.

Gary Fleisher, one of the first doctors in the world to receive a pediatric medicine specialty, helped develop pediatric medicine. Fleisher served as the president of the American Pediatric Society from 2010-2011 and primarily researches common infectious diseases within pediatrics. He is well-known for his work with mentoring and teaching.

Howard Gordon, who received his master’s in 1963 and doctorate in 1965 from Penn State in Physics, is a distinguished professor at the University of Miami where he teaches often about his expertise about the ocean-atmosphere relationship. His research is funded by NASA and the Office of Naval Research.

Joellen M. Schildkraut, who earned her bachelor’s in 1978 at Penn State in microbiology, is now a professor at the Duke College of Medicine. Schildkraut specializes in the genetics of breast and ovarian cancers.

Robert Shaler is a recently retired Penn State professor, who was also the founding director of Penn State’s forensics program. Shaler is known for his work on DNA identification of victims in the 9/11 attacks, of which he published a book about. Shaler also led a show on Investigative Discovery Channel, “Crime Scene University,” where students from Penn State, as well as other Universities, investigated set-up crime scenes.