GOVERNOR, MUSEUM NAME PROFESSOR A TOP SCIENTIST

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993                   TAG: 9302180204
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short
GOVERNOR, MUSEUM NAME PROFESSOR A TOP SCIENTIST
A Virginia Tech professor was one of the state's two Outstanding Scientists, named Wednesday by the governor and the Science Museum of Virginia.
Gerald V. Gibbs, a university distinguished professor at Tech, and Albert Munson of the Medical College of Virginia received awards in a noon ceremony.
Gibbs is a professor of geology and materials science.
He has transformed the way mineralogists approach research and discovered new ways to analyze and interpret data.
Gibbs' research has led to important conclusions about the nature of bonding in many materials. He also has been instrumental in developing computer models of crystals based on quanton mechanical calculations on small molecular fragments.
Munson is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology.
He is widely regarded as the founder of a new field of research, immunotoxicology.
Munson recognized interactions between bacterial products with drugs and chemicals that modulate immune response. These observations let to research and a new field of study.
Charles W. Pryor Jr., president and chief executive officer of B&W Nuclear Technologies in Lynchburg, was named Virginia's Outstanding Industrialist for 1993.
John W. Mitchell of the University of Virginia, received a Life Achievement Award in science.
The awards were created in 1984 by the Science Museum of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia to recognize and honor outstanding Virginians and their contributions.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB