Carter came to UD to receive the first Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit, awarded in recognition of his efforts to focus the world’s attention on the need for renewable energy and spur further development of solar technologies.

That first Böer medal came with a $40,000 prize. The medal has been given 14 times, most recently to 2022 winner Vasilis Fthenakis of Columbia University, an expert in large-scale deployment of solar power. The award now includes a $100,000 prize.

The 1993 medal presentation was the culmination of a daylong international solar energy symposium held at UD, focused on “Balancing Energy, the Economy and Ecology: The Solar Energy Contribution.” Some of the world’s leading scientists, industrialists and political leaders attended. Symposium speakers included Nobel laureate and physicist Henry W. Kendall from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with experts from Australia, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

About 3,500 people attended the event at the Bob Carpenter Center, despite wintry weather conditions, including Bill Shafarman, who was a research scientist at IEC then and now is IEC's director and a professor of materials science and engineering.

"I remember that it was an exciting night," Shafarman said. "A lot of people were there and it was certainly great to have that kind of focus on solar research."

The late Russell W. Peterson, former governor of Delaware and a renowned environmentalist, introduced Carter as “a man for all seasons, one of the world’s greatest assets,” according to a report by Beth Thomas in UpDate, the University’s campus community newspaper at the time.

Peterson underlined Carter’s global work, especially “The Global 2000 Report to the President,” which urged bold action to ward off future crises in crowding, pollution and ecological instability. Peterson called it “one of the most important contributions of any government to the future quality of life on our planet.”

Carter created the Department of Energy and Böer, who joined UD’s faculty in 1965, saw him as a critical ally for the expansion of renewable energy technology, a global figure who put a spotlight on the potential of solar energy with practical projects that could be easily understood by the public.

For example, Carter used solar panels to warm the reviewing stand on the day of his inauguration in 1977 and had solar panels installed at the White House in 1979, using them to heat water for the building. He often underscored the urgent need to develop renewable energy technology and break the nation’s addiction to fossil fuels and foreign oil.