Becker wins Antarctic medal

Luann Becker, who recently completed a term as a visiting assistant professor of Earth and Space Sciences, has been awarded the Antarctic Service Medal, which is given to members of Antarctic expeditions, personnel of permanent Antarctic stations or service in adjacent waters.

Becker, who has taken a new position at the University of California, Santa Barbara, received the recognition for spending five weeks on the Antarctic ice pack in early 2000 as part of an expedition collecting meteorites. The medal was presented Aug. 3 by J. Michael Brown, Earth and Space Sciences chairman, during a luncheon at the UW Faculty Club. The medal was authorized by Congress in 1961 and was first awarded to a 1946 expedition headed by Rear Admiral Richard Byrd.