THIS HOUSE is greatly honored today by the presence of this brilliant company.
All the Nation is honored by these distinguished men on whom we come to confer our highest award for their work--the National Medal of Science.
As explorers, discoverers, and teachers, these 11 Americans have enlarged the horizons of our times and we are very proud to recognize the contributions they have made with their useful lives.
In a broader sense, our recognition of them is acknowledgment of our pride in and our respect for the role and works of all our community of science in America.
Within the lifetime of us all, it has been widely held that America could apply the knowledge and concepts of science in other lands--but that we could not replenish the knowledge or enlarge the understanding of ourselves.
Today, I think that view has changed somewhat.
We have attained positions of world leadership in most branches of science. Our science is marked by quality as well as quantity. Over the past 10 years, one-half of the Nobel prizes in chemistry, physics, and medicine have been awarded to Americans. The work of those receiving the Medals of Science speaks further of the quality of our science.
So today, we are challenged in science-as in all aspects of our society--to preserve these standards of high quality and pursue excellence as our goals.
Toward that end, we are striving to strengthen our foundations in physical science, in biological science, and in medical science. It is our hope--and our purpose-to create more and better scientific centers of excellence in the universities of our Nation. We are determined to make certain, also, that talented students in all parts of the country have opportunities to develop and utilize their talents more fully.
This is really seed time for our society-a time when we must go into new fields and go into old ones, to sow the seed for the harvest of a finer life by generations which come after us.
The effort we make to support and to sustain and to advance our science is vital to the success of this Nation's purposes. The challenge is great--but we accept it and we shall meet it, to the fullest degree.
Our objects today remain the same as when an early resident of this house said that "the main objects of all science are the freedom and happiness of man."
Science in America has done much to provide us with the health and the happiness and the hopefulness that we enjoy. But we are proud and grateful that the benefits of our science serve not our ends alone. Whether in the keeping of peace or the exploration of space, whether the study of the seas or the combating of disease and poverty and ignorance, the cause of our science is the cause of all mankind.
As Thomas Jefferson once wrote to a friend in another land, "The field of knowledge is the common property of mankind, and any discoveries we can make in it will be for the benefit of yours and of every other nation, as well as our own."
So this morning as we honor our outstanding men of science, let all the world understand that science in America is--and shall remain--dedicated to mankind's freedom, and mankind's justice and peace and not to mankind's oppression or enslavement or destruction.
Now let the citations be read for the 1964 awards of the National Medal of Science.
Thank you all for coming here and letting me enjoy seeing you.
Note: The President spoke at 12:30 p.m. in the East Room at the White House following introductory remarks by Donald F. Hornig, Special Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology, and by Frederick Seitz, President of the National Academy of Sciences and member of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science.
Earlier, on November 27, 1964, at Austin, Tex., the President announced the 1964 recipients of the National Medal of Science as follows:
Dr. Roger Adams, professor of chemistry, emeritus, University of Illinois. Cited "For superb contributions as a scientist, teacher, and imaginative leader in furthering the constructive interaction of academic and industrial scientists."
Dr. Othmar H. Ammann, consulting engineer and partner, Atomann & Whitney in New York City. Cited "For a half century of distinguished leadership in the design of great bridges which combine beauty and utility with bold engineering concept and method."
Dr. Theodosius Dobzhansky, professor and member of the Rockefeller Institute, New York City. Cited "For fundamental studies of the genetic determinants of organ evolution and for penetrating analysis of the genetic and cultural evolution of man."
Dr. Charles S. Draper, head of the department of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the Instrumentation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cited "For innumerable imaginative engineering achievements which met urgent national needs of instrumentation, control, and guidance in aeronautics and astronautics."
Dr. Solomon Lefschetz, professor of mathematics, emeritus, Princeton University, and head of a research group at Brown University. Cited "For indomitable leadership in developing mathematics and training mathematicians, for fundamental publications in algebraic geometry and topology, and for stimulating needed research in nonlinear control processes."
Dr. Neal E. Miller, Angell professor of psychology at Yale University. Cited "For sustained and imaginative research on principles of learning and motivation and illuminating behavioral analysis of the effects of direct electrical stimulation of the brain."
Dr. Marston Morse, professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. Cited "For extraordinary achievement in creating analytic theories in the large, for statesmanship in the world of mathematics, and for distinguished service to his country in war and peace."
Dr. Marshall W. Nirenberg, research chemist and Head, Section of Biochemical Genetics, Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry at the National Heart Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. Cited "For studies of the genetic control of protein synthesis and, in particular, for deciphering the chemical code relating nucleic acid structures to protein structures."
Dr. Julian Schwinger, professor of physics at Harvard University. Cited "For profound work on the fundamental problems of quantum field theory, and for many brilliant contributions to and lucid expositions of nuclear physics and electrodynamics." Dr. Harold C. Urey, professor-at-large at the University of California, San Diego. Cited "For outstanding contributions to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system and the origin of life on earth and for pioneering work in the application of isotopes to the determination of the temperatures of ancient oceans."
Dr. Robert B. Woodward, Donner professor of science at Harvard University. Cited "For an imaginative new approach to the synthesis of complex organic molecules and, especially, for brilliant syntheses of strychnine, reserpine, lysergic acid, and chlorophyll."
The text of the remarks of Dr. Hornig and Dr. Seitz was also released.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks at the National Medal of Science Presentation Ceremony. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241218
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