Scientific American is pleased to honor the 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organizations listed below.

Through their many accomplishments in 2001-2002, they have demonstrated clear, progressive views of what our technological future could be, as well as the leadership, knowledge and expertise essential to realizing those visions. Congratulations.

For a full description of their work, visit the Scientific American Archive and purchase the December issue.

RESEARCH LEADERS OF THE YEAR

Led the effort to sequence the genome of rice, the world's most important food crop.

STEPHEN GOFF
Syngenta¿s Torrey Mesa Research Institute

HUANMING YANG
Beijing Genomics Institute

JUN YU
University of Washington Genome Center

BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR

Advocated and oversaw the development of fuel cells as automotive energy sources.

GEOFFREY BALLARD
General Hydrogen

AGRICULTURE

ALLISON A. SNOW
Ohio State University
The potential of genetically engineered crops to pass traits to weeds must be understood.

G. STEVEN BURRILL
Burrill & Company
Advanced the cause of biotechnology by demonstrating its prudent investment value.

PRODIGENE, INC. College Station, Tex.
Produced transgenic corn that could be the basis for an edible AIDS vaccine.

SANDRA L. POSTEL
Global Water Policy Project
Advocated sweeping changes aimed at preserving the world¿s dwindling supplies of freshwater.

CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS

ANTHOULA LAZARIS AND COSTAS KARATZAS
Nexia Biotechnologies
Created transgenic goats that can manufacture superstrong spider silk in their milk.

RANDY HOWARD
Cargill Dow
Marketed "green" plastics made from corn that are economically competitive with conventional products.

JON S. CORZINE
U.S. Senate, New Jersey
Legislated for higher security and safety standards at industrial facilities to defend against terrorism.

MOTOROLA Schaumburg, Ill.
Integrated components made of different semiconductors onto single high-performance chips.

COMMUNICATIONS

MARC GOLDBURG
ArrayComm
Invented method for improving wireless services by beaming signals directly to mobile users.

MASOOD GARAHI
MeshNetworks
Tested systems for forging ad hoc high-speed wireless networks of mobile devices.