The selection for this significant honor follows a rigorous process involving peer nominations, evaluation by a panel of qualified judges and Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox’s final approval.

“Your outstanding contributions as an ecologist have established a remarkable international reputation for your innovative research and discoveries, and your leadership at both the university and national levels,” Cox states in his official letter to Dearing. “Your pioneering research, program development that benefits the state of Utah, and numerous awards recognizing your international stature embody the excellence in academia/research this medal celebrates.” He also acknowledges Dearing’s “dedication as an effective mentor and teacher, providing exceptional guidance to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.”

The Governor’s Medal is the state’s highest civilian award, celebrating distinguished service and significant contributions to science and technology. Since 1987, this medal has recognized individuals like Dearing, for their impact and achievements.

Dearing will receive the medal at a ceremony on May 21, 2025.

“Being a world-class scientist today requires an extraordinary breadth of skills,” said Fred Adler, Director of the School of Biological Sciences, “and Dr. Dearing has the entire set, ranging from her breadth, creativity and influence as a scientist, her dedicated and innovative teaching, caring and successful mentoring and leadership both at the University of Utah and nationally.”

Woodrats, Toxins and Rattlesnakes

Since 2022 Dearing, a Distinguished Professor in the School of Biological Sciences as well as its former director, has served as the Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems at the National Science Foundation. She and her team study ecological factors and physiological constraints that influence foraging behavior and the evolution of diet breadth in mammalian herbivores.

Currently, her laboratory is investigating the evolution of dietary specialization in herbivores by exploring the detoxification abilities of woodrats (Neotoma species). Woodrats are one of the only animals that can tolerate large quantities of creosote, a shrub with leaves coated in a chemical cocktail of poisonous resin, according to a recent article on Dearing’s research published in @TheU: “The critter’s constitution has astounded biologists and represents a decades-long debate — over evolutionary time, how do animals adapt to a deadly diet? Do detoxification enzymes become more specialized or more abundant?”

In January, Dearing’s team published a landmark paper in the journal Science pinpointing the specific genes and enzymes that allow the woodrats to eat the near-lethal food without obvious harm. They found that creosote feeding woodrats had “doubled down” on detox, having several more key detoxification genes than their counterparts that do not eat creosote.

Dearing’s research has fueled the findings of others, including those presented in a paper published in Biology Letters just three weeks ago. A research team out of the University of Michigan in collaboration with Dearing investigated the immunity of creosote-eating woodrats to rattlesnake venom, a substance that contains hemotoxins that break down blood cells and neurotoxins that cause respiratory paralysis.

Medications like anticoagulants and even Ozempic have resulted from the pharmacologically active molecules discovered in the study of venoms and the animals that resist them. Related to that, coevolutionary relationships between snakes and their prey in one location to another can lead to the discovery of powerful molecules that may have other important applications.

“We are proud to celebrate Denise Dearing’s well-deserved recognition with the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology,” said Pearl Sandick, interim dean of College of Science. “This award recognizes Dearing’s exceptional contributions to science and technology in the state, and we are thrilled to see her join the distinguished group of individuals who have received this honor. Her work has had a profound impact on our academic community and beyond. Her collaborative spirit and dedication have made her an invaluable scientist and colleague.”  ~by David Pace

vibrant research program

A leading figure in electrochemistry, White is best known for exploring how electrical processes behave at incredibly small (nanoscale) dimensions, according to distinguished professor of chemistry Cynthia Burrows. His work has shed light on how electric fields at surfaces affect the behavior of molecules attached to those surfaces, discoveries that are important for many devices from sensors to batteries.

“Henry excels in every category of our profession, as an educator and a scholar, and as a leader and colleague,” wrote Burrows, herself the 2019 Rosenblatt laureate, in her letter of nomination. “In his 32 years at the U, he has grown a vibrant research program in experimental and theoretical electrochemistry that has impacted diverse areas in biological, physical, and materials chemistry.”

White helped develop a fundamental theory of how molecules move and interact with electric fields near tiny electrodes, known as ultramicroelectrodes. These insights have practical uses in chemical detection and nanotechnology. One of the most exciting innovations from his lab is a patented method to analyze single DNA molecules using protein-based channels placed in glass nanopore membranes, essentially building a microscopic tool for studying genetic material at the molecular level.

“His group has made major contributions to many other areas of electrochemistry that include the application of magnetic fields in electrochemistry, unraveling the mechanism of electro-osmotic transport of drugs through human skin, breakdown of nanometer thick oxide films in corrosive environments, and the characterization of gas ‘nanobubbles,’” Burrows wrote.

White completed his doctorate in 1983 at the University of Texas and worked for nearly a decade at the University of Minnesota as a professor of chemical engineering and materials science. He joined the U’s chemistry faculty in 1993, serving as department chair from 2007 to 2013 and as dean of the College of Science from 2014 to 2019.

“The five years of Henry’s leadership as dean were a transformative period for the College,” wrote Peter Trapa, vice provost and senior dean of the Colleges and Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in a letter of support for White’s nomination. “During this time, the College advanced its world-class research reputation; significantly expanded its educational mission; completely reimagined its fundraising efforts; and positioned itself to grow and sustain these advances for many years to come.”

White is credited with launching the college’s Science Research Initiative, which provides research opportunities to undergraduates and has since grown to 500 students. As department chair, White implemented major changes in the general chemistry program, requiring that only the top educators teach first-year undergraduate courses.

White himself taught general chemistry many times over the course of his U tenure. More than 40 graduate students have been mentored by White, who also supervised more than 60 research projects by undergraduates in chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering.

His research, which touches every corner of electrochemistry, has been funded by both industry and a wide range of federal agencies, including Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Electrochemists study the chemical transformations that occur when electrons are added to molecules in solution, producing results that are advancing energy production and storage. During White’s tenure, the field has gone from relative obscurity to prominence, especially for emerging energy technologies, according to George Whitesides, a university research professor of chemistry at Harvard.

“Even though there is enormous interest in the subject now, very few people really understand it, or the elementary processes it involves. Henry is one of the few who does. He has the true expert’s intuition about the processes that can occur, and the ones that don’t,” Whitesides wrote. “His skill in the science is enormously useful in guiding others who are primarily developing technology or extending applications, and he has assumed the role of arbiter of the “final word” in electrochemical arguments.”

Every major prize available to electrochemists has landed on White, most recently the 2015 Allen J. Bard Award of the Electrochemical Society, for which he was the inaugural recipient. In 2019, the U named him the John A. Widstoe Presidential Endowed Chair of Chemistry, but he later declined to renew the appointment so that it could be offered to a young rising star in the Department of Chemistry.

White helped raise millions in private donations to fund new endowed chairs and construct the Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry and the Crocker Science Center, both completed under his watch. His initiatives helped diversify the chemistry faculty.

“The accomplishments described above are lasting contributions that will impact the College for generations and are testament to Henry’s exceptional ability as an administrator,” Trapa wrote. “In fact, it is fair to say that he probably did more to advance the dual missions of research and education than anyone who came before him in the history of the College.”  ~Brian Maffly