WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today applauded President Joe Biden’s appointment of University of Maine President Dr. Joan Ferrini-Mundy to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science. The committee is tasked with evaluating nominees for the prestigious science award and making final recommendations to the President.

“As President of the University of Maine and a former senior official at the National Science Foundation, Dr. Joan Ferrini-Mundy is one of the nation’s most respected voices on the importance of STEM education,” said Senators Collins and King. “During her time at the University of Maine, Dr. Ferrini-Mundy has worked to solidify the school as a global leader in education and research, and she has helped train a new generation of Maine scientists. We congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition, and we know that she will be an immense asset to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.”

A national leader in STEM education, research, and policy, Dr. Ferrini-Mundy currently serves as the President of the University of Maine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias. She also serves as Vice Chancellor for research and innovation for the University of Maine system. Her leadership helped the University of Maine receive an R1 designation and has put the school among the top research universities in the nation. Before coming to the University of Maine, Dr. Ferrini-Mundy served as Chief Operating Officer for the National Science Foundation, and she was an administrator and professor at Michigan State University and the University of New Hampshire.

The National Medal of Science was established by the 86th Congress in 1959 as a Presidential Award to be given to individuals "deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences." In 1980, Congress expanded this recognition to include the social and behavioral sciences. A Committee of sixteen presidential appointees comprising fourteen scientists and engineers and two ex officio members is appointed by the President to evaluate the nominees for the Award. Since its establishment, the National Medal of Science has been awarded to 506 distinguished scientists and engineers whose careers spanned decades of research and development.