Old Mountaineer presented with prestigious White House prize

A former student at Mount St Mary's College has been presented with a prestigious White House award for his outstanding contribution to the American world of science.

Dr Craig Brown, who was educated at the Jesuit school in the 1980s, has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).  It is the highest honour bestowed by the United States Government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers

Dr Brown, originally from Sheffield, is an instrument scientist for the Disk Chopper Spectrometer at the NIST Centre for Neutron Research (NCNR) in Maryland, where he researches science underlying future energy technologies.

President Obama announced his name amongst a list of more than 100 other early researchers who were presented with the award at a special White House ceremony, which he attended with his wife Yamali and children Nicole and Luisa.

Dr Brown said: 'It was a wonderful occasion and the award is recognition of the support I have benefited from whilst working at the NCNR.  It reflects upon the creativity and abilities of all of my collaborators as well as the education received at Mount St Mary's.'

The party started the day with a tour of the White House East Wing before the actual ceremony, which was hosted by Dr John Holdren, Science Advisor to President Obama, who presented Dr Brown with a certificate and letter of congratulations signed by the President.  After the reception, the award recipients were whisked off to the White House to meet the President himself. 'It was inspirational to hear him speak about his support for education, science and technology', said Dr Brown.

Craig Brown excelled in sciences during his time at Mount St Mary's and went on to read Natural Science at the University of Cambridge.

Mr Laurence McKell, headmaster at Mount St Mary's, based in Derbyshire, said: 'Craig's success is a tremendous example of how, at Mount St Mary's, we help each student to develop their talents both in and outside the classroom.  Everyone at the school is hugely proud of his achievements.  He is a fantastic role model and we look forward to welcoming him back to Mount St Mary's later this year when he will meet staff and students and give a talk on his career successes.'

The photo on the left shows L-R) Dr John Holdren, Science Advisor to the President (Office of Science and Technology Policy), Dr Craig Brown, and Dr Patrick Gallagher, Director, NIST, Department of Commerce.


 Mount St Mary's College

 NIST Center for Neutron Research

 PECASE