John O. Dabiri receives the National Medal of Science from Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and assistant to the president for science and technology. Photo by Ryan K. Morris for the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation
By Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications
January 7, 2025
Undergraduate alumnus John O. Dabiri received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific honor, “for outstanding achievements in aeronautical and biological engineering,” according to his citation. “Inspired by the movements of fish and jellyfish, John Dabiri’s work on biological fluid dynamics, turbulence and biological propulsion has advanced our clean energy future, leading to more efficient wind turbines and wind farms that make our world cleaner, safer, and more sustainable for future generations.”
In addition to Dabiri, other recipients of the Medal of Science were Bonnie Bassler, Princeton’s Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology, two emeritus members of the Princeton faculty, Larry Martin Bartels and Ingrid Daubechies, and undergraduate alumna Cynthia Dwork.
The White House honor was announced and awarded to 14 recipients in a ceremony Jan. 3. The ceremony also honored nine individuals with National Medals of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor for technological achievement.
“Congratulations to those recipients of two of our nation’s most prestigious honors, the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation,” said President Joseph Biden during the livestreamed ceremony. “This year’s honorees represent a simple truth: As I’ve always believed, America can be defined by a single word, ‘possibilities.’ That’s who we are, a nation of possibilities.”
Dabiri, a B.S.E. graduate of the Class of 2001, is now the Centennial Chair Professor at Caltech. He is a MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, as well as the recipient of the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award.
After completing his summa cum laude degree from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, he got a master’s degree in aeronautics from Caltech in 2003 and a Ph.D. in bioengineering with a minor in aeronautics from Caltech in 2005. He was a professor of aeronautics and bioengineering at Caltech from 2005 to 2015, then spent four years teaching at Stanford before returning to Caltech.