PHILADELPHIA – Two University of Pennsylvania researchers have been selected as 2003 recipients of the Benjamin Franklin Medal, one of the world's oldest science and technology awards. The laureates will be honored April 24 at an award ceremony at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Robin M. Hochstrasser, professor of chemistry, and Raymond Davis Jr., research professor of physics, are among 10 American scientists recognized with Benjamin Franklin Medals this year for their distinguished achievements in aviation, chemistry, civil engineering, computers and cognitive science, earth sciences, electrical engineering, life sciences and physics.

"These exceptional scientists are taking up the torch of a 178-year-old legacy of extraordinary achievement in science and technology," said Dennis M. Wint, president and CEO of the Franklin Institute. "Each of our laureates has made a far-reaching contribution to our understanding of the universe and to improving the quality of our lives."

The 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry goes to Hochstrasser for his pioneering development of ultrafast and multi-dimensional spectroscopies. These technologies have advanced researchers' molecular-level understanding of complex systems, including such fundamental processes as energy transfer in solids, reaction mechanisms in liquid solutions, the binding of small molecules on hemoglobin and the observation of structural changes in proteins.

Davis, who shares the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics with Masatoshi Koshiba of the University of Tokyo and John Bahcall of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J., was a recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics. Both honors recognized Davis' groundbreaking research into the emission of neutrinos produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the center of the sun. The observation of these neutrinos demonstrated conclusively that the sun is powered by the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei.

Davis has been affiliated with Penn as a research professor since 1985 and as an adjunct professor of astronomy from 1973 to 1983. Hochstrasser, a faculty member since 1962, also serves as director of the Regional Laser and Biotechnology Laboratories at Penn, a position he has held since 1978.

Founded in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the Franklin Institute is one of America's oldest and premier centers of science education and development. The Franklin Institute Awards have recognized preeminent accomplishment in science and technology on an international level since the Institute was founded in 1824.