Medal design

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Dumitru Badicean
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Nomination Information
Nominations should include:
  1. The nominee's name and current position.
  2. A chronological listing of positions held.
  3. A list of elected memberships, fellowships and offices.
  4. A list of awards received.
  5. A 50 word maximum synopsis of the applicant's chief accomplishments.
  6. A 250 word maximum description of the candidate's major research contributions.
  7. A listing of no more than 15 key publications.

Awards will be made only to a single scientist each year, except in exceptional cases where two nominees contributed approximately equally in the same subject area.

Applications should be sent to John Portwood at John.Portwood@USDA.GOV.

The deadline for all applications was March 16th, 2026. Nominations will be evaluated by the ANC. Each recipient will be invited to receive the award and make a research presentation at the annual Maize Genetics Meeting.
See an example of a successful nomination ▶
2026 Winner


Dr. Joseph Ecker
(Salk Institute for Biological Studies)

This award is in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the development of genetic and epigenetic tools and resources for multicellular organisms, from plants to humans, and use of these tools and resources to discover important new biology, from plant hormone signal transduction to diseases of the human brain.
See all past winners ▶
The McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies
The Barbara McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies has been created to memorialize the unequalled contributions of Dr. McClintock through providing recognition to the most outstanding plant scientists working on both genetics and genomics in the present era.

In memory of the many contributions of Dr. McClintock, this Prize will be awarded each year to one or more of the most creative minds and productive scientists in the study of genome structure, function and evolution, including the analysis of gene regulation and epigenetics in any plant system. To be eligible, a scientist must be currently active. This award is for career scientific accomplishments, not for community service or as a way to assist the development of a junior scientist.
Barbara McClintock biography ▶