(Gray News) – President Joe Biden will bestow medals honoring those who have advanced science and technology in the U.S. Tuesday during a White House ceremony.

The president is scheduled to give out the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology & Innovation in the White House’s East Room.

The National Medal of Science is the highest honor the national can bestow on scientists and engineers . A committee of scientists choose the awardees from a slate of nominees.

The medal has been awarded to 506 scientists and engineers since the award’s establishment in 1959 by an act of Congress. The first medal was awarded in 1963.

The National Medal of Technology & Innovation is given out to individuals or groups who has made significant contributions to the nation’s “competitiveness, standard of living, and quality of life through technological innovation.”

An award selection committee reviews all nominees and makes its recommendations for medal candidates to the Secretary of Commerce, who offers recommendations to the president for final selection.

The technology medal was first awarded in 1985 after its establishment by Congress in 1980.

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