Robert S. Langer '70 was presented the 2006 National Medal of Science by President George W. Bush on July 27. Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received the nation's highest scientific honor for his revolutionary discoveries in the areas of polymeric controlled-release systems and tissue engineering and synthesis of new materials, which have led to new medical treatments.

Langer, who received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell in 1970, is renowned for his revolutionary work on ways to administer drugs to cancer patients. At MIT, he runs the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world and holds more than 550 issued and pending patents. He has also written about 900 research papers.

In the 1970s, Langer developed polymer materials that allowed the large molecules of a protein to pass through membranes in a controlled manner to inhibit angiogenesis, the process by which tumors recruit blood vessels. Blocking angiogenesis is critical in fighting cancer because the new blood vessels allow tumor cells to escape into the circulatory system and lodge in other organs.