In 1994, the MCB Program established the Byron Prize in honor of Dr. Fred Byron, Vice Chancellor for Research at UMass Amherst. Dr. Byron was instrumental in establishing the MCB program and showed great vision and support of both research and graduate education throughout his career at UMass. Each fall, students who defended their theses in the previous year can be nominated for the prize by their thesis advisors. The winner is brought back to UMass in the spring to present a talk at the MCB Retreat and receives a cash prize of $1,000. Prize selection is made by the MCB Steering Committee, which has established the following criteria: