( L - R ) Chen, Robinson

The Order of Merit will be conferred on two distinguished professors during the National Heroes Day celebration at King's House in October.

Professor Abraham Anthony Chen will be honoured for his contribution to the field of climatology, while Professor Edward Robinson will be recognised for his work in the fields of geology, oceanography and environmental science.

Chen was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize last year. He is the only Jamaican to have won a Nobel Prize.

Gleaner Honour Award

Robinson received a Gleaner Honour Award in 2005 in the category of science and technology.

Among those also recognised in the list of national honourees, published today, are banker Michael Lee Chin; retired chief of AIDS and epidemiology in the Ministry of Health, Dr Peter Figueroa; and Commissioner of Customs Danville Walker - three of the six people who will receive the Order of Jamaica.

Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, retired politician Dr Paul Robertson and Jamaica National General Manager Earl Jarrett will receive the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD).

The late Cedella Marley-Booker, mother of reggae legend Bob Marley, who died in April; and former Gleaner editor-in-chief Dr Dudley Stokes will receive the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer (OD).

100 selected

In total, 100 people have been selected for national honours and awards for 2008.

Among the four people receiving the Badge of Honour for Gallantry, or BH(G), is Gary Clarke, who courageously attempted to rescue two men who were trapped in a burning motor car in Westmoreland on November 15 last year. He received multiple burns in the incident but both men perished.

Verona Johnson, who rescued two family members from a burning house in St Elizabeth on December 10, but perished with two others she tried to save, will receive a posthumous BH(G).

The other two who will receive the BH(G) are Harriet Phillips and Oliver Rose, who both assisted with the rescue of three of four people who were trapped in a bus which plunged from a precipice into the sea in Portland on January 18.