Grant Willson, friend and fellow professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has won just about every award that the chemistry profession has to offer. And since his work straddles the fence between science and engineering, he’s won just about every award that the chemical engineering profession has to offer as well. Add to that his accolades while at IBM and the respect of the lithography community (winning the Frits Zernike award, its highest honor), and it would be fair to say that his accomplishments have received some well-deserved recognition.

Last month, though, Grant’s recognition rose to a new level. He was one of eight recipients of the 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, our nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. In October he was presented his award by President Bush in a White House ceremony.

His wife Debbie sneaked a video recording of the presentation on her digital camera. Grant shakes the President’s hand and then tells him a joke, getting him to laugh. Then after the reading of the citation [“for creating lithographic imaging materials and techniques that have enabled the manufacture of smaller, faster and more efficient micro-electronic components”] he and Bush both pose doing the “hook ‘em horns” hand gesture. Awesome.

Congratulations, Grant.