The UT Tower will shine with burnt orange lights Monday, May 11 to celebrate members of the university community and their incredible academic achievements.

Members of the UT community being honored during the Tower lighting represent schools and colleges across the Forty Acres. The awards and honors given to these Longhorns included many of the highest distinctions in their respective fields.

The Longhorns being honored during this special Tower lighting include:  

• Allan MacDonald (College of Natural Sciences) – Wolf Prize
  • Given annually in Israel, the Wolf Prize is generally considered the most prestigious award in physics other than the Nobel Prize.
• Mark Kirkpatrick, Katherine Freese, &  John Kormendy (College of Natural Sciences) – Elected to National Academy of Sciences
  • The National Academy of Sciences is the country’s most prestigious scientific organization, and election to membership in the academy is one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist in the United States.
• C. Grant Willson (Cockrell School of Engineering) – Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering
  • The Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering is widely regarded as the highest honor in the profession.
• Robert B. Gilbert (Cockrell School of Engineering) – Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
  • Election to the academy is among the highest professional distinctions for an engineer.
• Karen Uhlenbeck (College of Natural Sciences) – Steele prize for Lifetime Achievement
  • The Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement is awarded to mathematicians who have made a significant impact in the field across multiple domains.
• Mary K. Wakefield (School of Nursing) – Living Legend Award from the American Academy of Nursing
  • Award is to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary contributions to the nursing profession throughout their career.
• Robert O. (Bill) Williams (College of Pharmacy) – National Academy of Inventors 2019 Fellows
  • The NAI Fellows status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors.
• Lucas Hill (College of Pharmacy) – American Pharmacists Association Generation Rx Award
  • The award recognizes a pharmacist that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of substance abuse education.
• Clay Johnston (Dell Medical School) – Elected to the National Academy of Medicine
  • Election to the Academy is one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
• John B. Goodenough (Cockrell School of Engineering) – Awarded the Nobel Medal in Chemistry
  • In the words of the Nobel Foundation, Goodenough’s work developing lithium-ion batteries has “brought the greatest benefit to humankind.”

Join us in congratulating these world changing Longhorns.