"Ms. Sauzenbacher has demonstrated her commitment to science education in a variety of ways," reads her citation. "Her involvement with Salt Lake Community College's ... Biotechnology Program and local biotech companies to provide high school students with real research internships is a prime example of her commitment and innovation in this field."

Academic research

• Anil Virkar, professor and chairman of the U.'s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

"Dr. Virkar is a prolific researcher with over 200 publications, 35 patents, over 200 invited presentations," says the citation. "He is internationally recognized in the field of solid oxide fuel cell technology and ceramic materials."

• Pierre Sokolsky, chairman and professor in the U.'s Department of Physics.

"Dr. Sokolsky is recognized as one of the world's leaders in high energy particle astrophysics," the citation notes. "He has published over 200 articles including 58 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and 190 proceedings papers."

He has led groups at the forefront of particle physics. One team that he headed "discovered the highest energy astrophysical event discovered to date."

The discovery is largely responsible for "revitalization of the entire field of ultra-high-energy particle astrophysics." Projects led by Sokolsky have generated in $14 million in funding in Utah alone, efforts like a new cosmic ray observation that continues "to foster the creation of jobs in construction, optics, buildings and roads, a majority of which takes place in Delta, Utah and surrounding areas."

• Merrill Beckstead, chairman and professor of the Chemical Engineering Department, Brigham Young University.

"Dr. Beckstead is an internationally recognized expert in the chemistry and stability of rocket propellant combustion," the citation says. His most famous publication is the Beckstead-Derr-Price model of propellant combustion, "which is a starting point for most modern propellant research."

He has served as a professor at BYU for 28 years, "mentoring students in combustion and computer modeling." He has received more than $3 million in research funding and continues to support the Utah-based ATK propellant systems with consulting and students.

• Jan Miller, chairman of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at the U. and the Ivor Thomas professor in the department.

"Dr. Miller is the inventor of Air Sparged Hydrocyclone technology for phase separation that has been widely used for flotation of minerals, de-inking, paper recycling, coal cleaning, radioactive waste clean-up, oil-water separation, treatment of wastewater from chemical industries and numerous other engineering applications." Many patents resulted from this invention leading to "a large number of licenses," the citation adds, and this helps make him one of the biggest royalty-earners for the U.