Congratulations to the newest Nobel laureates

Congratulations to the great American intellects who once again led a field of prominent researchers to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and economics.

Roy Glauber of Harvard took half the physics award for his theoretical description of the behavior of light particles. John Hall, of the University of Colorado, shared the other half with a German researcher, Theodor Hansch, for their development of laser-based precision in determining the color of the light of atoms and molecules.

In chemistry, Americans Robert Grubbs of the California Institute of Technology, and Richard Schrock, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared the prize with a French researcher, Yves Chauvin. Their research is used in the development of pharmaceuticals and represents a great step forward for “green chemistry,” reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production.

An American and a researcher with dual American/Israeli citizenship shared the prize in economics. Thomas Schelling, of the University of Maryland, and Robert Aumann, from Israel, established interactive decision theory, or game theory, as the dominant approach to cooperation, with great relevance for conflict resolution and efforts to avoid war. The analysis of strategic commitments explains a wide range of phenomena, from competitive strategies of firms to the delegation of political decision power.

Every fall the Nobel Prize committee in Stockholm, Sweden announces the year’s newest Nobel laureates. Once again, Americans swept a majority of the Nobel Prizes. These brilliant, accomplished, and hard-working individuals should be held up as models for our young people. They should become our newest heroes, household names that outshine our athletes and actors. At the very least, we should all do our part to help spread the facts of their accomplishments and our pride as a nation in having them represent us.

Year after year, Americans are able to reap the high honor of winning these internationally acclaimed, nonpolitical, merit-based awards. We salute them all for their contributions to modern knowledge. We also applaud all the teachers they’ve had at every level throughout the years, who helped form the building blocks of knowledge that propelled them to this exalted honor.