University of Maryland

Leadership in the development of the ideas of chaos theory and the use of the properties of chaos to predict and control the behavior of complex nonlinear systems by Ed Ott and Jim Yorke in 1990.

Solution of the “phase problem” from the intensity of x-ray diffraction reflections of single crystals that enabled x-ray diffraction solution of structures by Herbert Hauptman (for his PhD). This mathematical solution formed the basis of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received in 1986.
Preservation of all documents during US occupation of Japan and of the facts pertaining to Pearl Harbor in the Prange Collection at McKeldin Library

Conceptualization of the Federal Head Start program by professors Laura Dittmann and James Hymes. Ditmann was a federal government employee who enrolled in the doctoral program. Her deep concern for disadvantaged children and for a larger understanding of the importance of the early years and later success resulted in the development of the intervention program. These two professors were instrumental in founding the national Association for the Education of Young Children.
Development of a new field in physics of phase transitions, known as “crossover critical phenomena” by Jan Sengers and Mikhail Anisimov. Most scientists worldwide who deal with critical phenomena and their applications now use this approach.

Mancur Olson’s research on public goods, collective decision making, and institutions was a fundamental contribution to understanding of how different economies perform. He developed the theory of the formation and action of interest groups, demonstrating that persons in voluntary associations seek the benefits of acting collectively but react to their own self interest to let others contribute to the cost. The incentives for ‘free riding’ within groups can render successful group action improbable. He demonstrated that it was the nature of a nation’s political and legal institutions (rather than its factor resources or technology) that explained differences in economic growth rates. The success nations have in creating stable institutions, secure property rights, the rule of law, and governments that support private ownership and competitive markets explains economic outcomes. Nations whose political institutions and interest groups overly regulate markets, tax capital excessively, or impose burdensome limits on the private sector perform poorly.

Environmentally friendly farming technologies including no till farming, cover crops, soil phosphorus indexing, composting systems, reduction in nutrients, and development of new animal feeds by Allan Bandel, John Lea-cox, Richard Weismiller, Frank Coale, Tom Simpson, Gary Felton, Lewis Carr, Roseline Angel, and Richard Kohn. These technologies account for the fact that Maryland has the highest adoption of safe and environmentally friendly farming practices of any state in the US.

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