Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry George M. Whitesides and Geyser University Professor William J. Wilson will be two of the nine renowned researchers named today as National Medal of Science recipients by President Clinton.

Clinton lauded the nine in a press release for "their lifetime of passion, perseverance and persistence to bring about new knowledge that extends the limits of their fields and drives our nation forward into a new century."

Whitesides earned the national honor for his broad-based research spanning the fields of chemistry, biology, biochemistry and materials science, leading to innovations in heterogeneous reactions, organic surface chemistry, transition metal chemistry and enzyme-mediated synthesis.

"There is no chemist I can think of who matches the product of Professor Whitesides' breadth and depth in research," said Higgins Professor of Chemistry Richard H. Holm. "This is a fitting award for one of the greatest chemists in the world."

According to Holm, Whitesides' work places him among the 10 most-frequently cited chemists.

Wilson is being recognized for his studies of inner city poverty and for advancing new techniques of interdisciplinary social science research.

"Wilson's work has led to a reconceptualization of the problems of central cities," said Joseph P. Newhouse '63, director of the division of health policy research and education at Harvard Medical School.

"When I heard I had received the award, I was in a state of shock," Wilson. said. "I never contemplated getting this award.

Wilson said he felt particularly honored to win the prize as a social scientist, following in the footsteps of Nobel laureate and McArthur University Professor Robert C. Merton, who became the first social scientist to win the medal four years ago.

Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which administers the annual awards, called the award the nation's equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the sciences.

"The long range implications of the medallists' contributions cannot be underestimated," Colwell said. "We applaud them daily for their continual contributions to humankind, for adding to science's reservoir of knowledge and for the impact they have on the students they mentor and educate on the way."

Harvard was the only institution with two honorees on this year's list.

Congress established the National Medal of Science in 1959. A 12-member presidential committee chooses the recipients. Since its establishment, the award has been given to 362 notable American scientists and engineers.