Penn State Professor of Geosciences Richard Alley was awarded the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony on Friday, January 3.

Alley was honored alongside 22 other individuals and two organizations with the nation’s highest honors for achievement and leadership in science and technology, the 2025 National Medals of Science of National Medals of Technology and Innovation.

The National Medal of Science was established by Congress in 1959 and is given to “individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences, in service to the nation.”

Alley specializes in studying the planet’s largest and oldest ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level.

Alley joined Penn State in 1988 after graduating from Wisconsin. He has worked on over 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers, hosted a PBS special, “Earth: The Operators’ Manual” and wrote the companion book, and appeared in media outlets worldwide.

Alley has been an author on the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in recent years, sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with members.

“My piece of this story is small, but our community as a whole provides reliable, useful information that can help people, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important effort and to the National Medal of Science for highlighting it,” Alley said. “The discoveries we have brought home, together with an immense amount of information from other scientists and engineers, show clearly that if we effectively use our knowledge on climate and energy, we can build a larger economy with more jobs, improved health, and national security, as well as a cleaner environment for all.”

Alley became the fifth Penn State professor awarded the National Medal of Science.