The Lomonosov Gold Medal, named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is the highest award of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Each year, a Russian and a non-Russian receive the award for outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and humanities.

The Lomonosov Gold Medal for 2006 is awarded to Professor Nikolay Laverov, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Professor Rod Ewing at the University of Michigan.  Both have played a significant role in fundamental research in support of the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste management.  Professor Ewing’s research has focused on developing an understanding of radiation effects in solids and the discovery of radiation-resistant materials that can be used to safely dispose of actinides, such as plutonium.  Professor Ewing is the Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and also is a Professor in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences.

More than twenty of the previous recipients are Nobel laureates.  Previous recipients include Hans Bethe, John Kenneth Galbraith, James Watson, Linus Pauling and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.  The most recent award to a non-Russian in the geosciences was to Frank Press in 1997.  Frank Press is a former President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

The Lomonosov Gold Medal will be presented to Professors Laverov and Ewing on March 27^th in Moscow at the annual meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences.