Charles DeLisi (Boston University), DOE Associate Director for Health and Environmental Research in the mid-1980s, was one of 28 honorees to whom President Bill Clinton presented the Presidential Citizens Medal on January 8. According to the award citation, DeLisi was the first government scientist to conceive and outline the feasibility, goals, and parameters of the Human Genome Project. He helped to galvanize an international team of researchers to pool resources, create new technologies, and launch the monumental task of gene mapping and sequencing.
At the presentation ceremony President Clinton added, "Charles DeLisi's imagination and determination helped to ignite the revolution in sequencing that would ultimately unravel the code of human life itself. Thanks to his vision and leadership, in the year 2000 we announced the complete sequencing of the human genome. Researchers are now closer than ever to finding therapies and cures for ailments once thought untreatable."
Established in 1969 by Executive Order 11494, the medal is awarded at the president's sole discretion to U.S. citizens (living or dead) who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation or for their fellow citizens. The 2001 award winners were recognized for their remarkable service and accomplishments in a variety of areas, including civil rights, medicine and health, sports, human rights, religion, education, disability advocacy, government service, journalism, and the environment. They include Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Brown, Archibald Cox, Robert Rubin, Warren Rudman, and Charles Ruff.
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