The Brown Science Foundation today announced four recipients of the annual Brown Investigator Award. The award, which recognizes curiosity-driven basic research in chemistry and physics, supports investigators’ research with $2 million over five years to their respective universities. Each winner was nominated by their institution and chosen from a candidate pool of mid-career scientists at top-rated research universities.

This year’s recipients are:

• Columbia University – Tanya Zelevinsky, Professor of Physics
• Princeton University – Waseem Bakr, Associate Professor of Physics
• Stanford University – Hema Karunadasa, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
• University of Washington – Munira Khalil, Leon C. Johnson Professor of Chemistry and Department Chair

“We couldn’t have been more pleased with the strength of candidates in just the second year of this growing program,” said Marc Kastner, external science advisor for the Science Philanthropy Alliance and chair of the foundation’s scientific advisory board, which selected the winners. “It’s a testament to the number of mid-career researchers willing to take risks and push the bounds of chemistry and physics. I know I speak for the entire advisory board and Ross Brown himself when I say that we’re excited to see where this year’s recipients will take their fields in the years to come.”

The Brown Science Foundation, a Science Philanthropy Alliance member, is dedicated to the belief that scientific discovery is a driving force in the improvement of the human condition. Established in 1992 by Ross M. Brown, the foundation announced its invitation-only Brown Investigator Award program in 2020 with plans to make eight awards annually by 2025. The program supports the often-overlooked resource of mid-career physics and chemistry researchers in the U.S.