Clinton Nominates 3 Californians for National Medal of Science

Three Californians, including two from Los Angeles, were among the eight Americans nominated for the National Medal of Science by President Clinton. The medals recognize important scientific achievements. The Southern Californians were biologist Norman Davidson of Caltech and physicist C. Kumar N. Patel, vice chancellor for research at UCLA. Davidson's research was crucial in understanding the nature of DNA, and Patel invented the carbon dioxide laser.

Mathematician Stephen Smale of UC Berkeley was the third California honoree. Other medalists include: geologist Wallace S. Broecker of Columbia University, computer scientists James L. Flanagan of Rutgers University and Richard M. Karp of the University of Washington, environmental specialist Ruth Patrick of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and economist Paul A. Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.