Governor's Medals

In January, Governor Gary R. Herbert, along with the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative and the Governor’s Office for Economic Development (GOED), announced the winners of the prestigious Governor’s Medals for Science and Technology.

Cynthia J. Burrows, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Adam Beehler, Physics Education Specialist, were selected along with Lawrence Thatcher, CEO of the Thatcher Group and a benefactor of the College of Science.

“The medal recipients are true leaders in innovation, serving as educators, mentors and influencers statewide,” Gov. Herbert said. “Innovation drives Utah’s thriving economy and unmatched quality of life. I commend the winners for excellence in their fields and for their important work, which will benefit Utah residents for generations.”

College of Science faculty and staff have earned 10 Governor’s Medals since 2010, and a remarkable 28 total Medals since the program’s inception in 1987.

The economic impact of these 28 College of Science members, including Burrows and Beehler, on Utah’s economy and the national economy can be measured in millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. The research impact on Utah’s academic and scientific communities can be measured in volumes of publications, journals, patents and products. The education impact on Utah’s students and citizens can be measured in scores and generations of successful University and College of Science alumni.

“Year after year, College of Science faculty and staff perform exceptional scientific research and provide valuable education to

Utah’s students and communities,” says Henry White, Dean of the College of Science. “These efforts support a robust local economy and a high standard of living in Utah.”

Burrows joined the U in 1995 and has educated thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. She has published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and advised more than 30 doctoral students who have completed PhD degrees. She also has secured more than $10 million of external research grants and private funding for the University and the College of Science.

Beehler joined the U in 2006. Over the past 10 years, he has taught 70,000 students across Utah about science and physics as part of a comprehensive public outreach program — the most extensive at the University of Utah. In addition, he teaches several physics classes at the U and prepares all of the lecture demonstrations for the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

Lawrence Thatcher, BS’47 in chemical engineering, founded the Thatcher Chemical company in Salt Lake City in 1967. Fifty years later, the Thatcher Group, Inc., continues to be a diversified chemical manufacturer and distributor, and a key member of Utah’s business community. The company employs hundreds of people and is based in Salt Lake with operations in seven other states.

Since 1987, the Governor’s Medals for Science and Technology have been awarded to Utah residents and companies who have provided distinguished service or made significant contributions to Utah’s advanced scientific and technological knowledge, education and industry.

Cynthia J. Burrows

Cynthia J. Burrows is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and the Thatcher Presidential Endowed Chair in Biological Chemistry at the University of Utah.

“I’m thrilled to join my Chemistry colleagues, about a dozen of them, who have previously won this honor. It’s important that the State of Utah recognizes the value of scientific research and innovation,” says Burrows.

Her research efforts focus on the chemistry and biology of free radical stress on DNA and the effect of changes in DNA and RNA structure on cellular function. She has also tackled new methods for DNA sequencing to identify sites where chemical modifications have occurred.

Molecular changes in genetic material, particularly caused by oxidative stress, underlie the development of certain cancers and also impact infectious diseases such as Zika virus.

In addition to research and teaching, Burrows serves the science community as editorin-chief of Accounts of Chemical Research, and has served the State of Utah as a former member of the USTAR Governing Authority.

Burrows was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2014.

Adam Beehler

Adam Beehler is the lecture demonstration specialist for the University of Utah Department of Physics and Astronomy. He has 23 years of experience in science education.

“I am deeply honored and pleased to see community engagement, public outreach, and education be recognized and supported by a Governor’s Medal,” says Beehler. “I hope that others will use this endorsement as an opportunity to get involved more and support such endeavors so that it may continue.”

Beehler is passionate about community engagement and public outreach. Since joining the U in 2006, he has taught nearly 70,000 Utah students and members of the general public through his volunteer lecture-demonstrations and activities at elementary and middle schools.

In addition, he teaches physics classes at the U, and prepares all of the experiments and demonstrations in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Beehler also has taught physics at Kansas State University, Colorado State University, Aims Community College, and the Discovery Science Museum.

Beehler’s experiments and demonstrations have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as The Physics Teacher as national best practices, and have been adopted by many peer institutions due to their effectiveness for increasing student learning.

Lawrence Thatcher

Lawrence Thatcher was trained in chemistry and chemical engineering at the University of Utah. He graduated in 1947 with a degree in chemical engineering.

Lawrence co-founded Thatcher Chemical in 1967 and developed it into a worldwide supplier and manufacturer of chemical products. His early achievement was in engineering aluminum sulfate in a more economical way for use in water purification, fabric dyeing, paper manufacturing and cosmetics.

Today, the Thatcher Company continues to be a diversified chemical manufacturer and distributor in Utah. The company is based in Salt Lake City and has operations in seven other states.

The Thatcher family, led by Lawrence, is a long-standing supporter of chemical education in Utah. In 2009, they helped establish the Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Utah. This modern facility provides classrooms, laboratories, and research space for hundreds of chemistry students and faculty each year.