The honor, awarded by the institute since 1907, recognizes distinguished work in the field of optics.
Pennycook has worked in ORNL's Solid State Division since 1982, becoming group leader in 1985. He was named a corporate fellow in 1996.
Prior to joining ORNL, Pennycook was a research associate at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has received a number of awards, including a DOE award for outstanding achievement in solid state sciences, an R&D 100 Award and a corporate author of the year award. Pennycook has won the Materials Research Society Medal and the Heinrich Award from the Microbeam Analysis Society.
Pennycook earned bachelor's and master's degrees in natural sciences and a doctorate in physics from the University of Cambridge.
He and his wife, Margaret, have two children, and reside in Oak Ridge.
ORNL is a DOE multiprogram facility operated by UT-Battelle.