Rowley was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest US scientific honor, for her cancer genetics discoveries.
On March 14, 1999, Janet Rowley was presented with the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the United States government, recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or behavioral and social sciences.
Rowley was cited for her pioneering identification of recurring chromosomal translocations in human cancers, work that had fundamentally demonstrated that cancer was, at its core, a genetic disease. Her research on the Philadelphia chromosome and subsequent translocations in other leukemias had provided the scientific foundation for an entirely new field of cancer cytogenetics.
This honor placed Rowley among an elite group of American scientists, including Nobel laureates, who had received the nation's top scientific award. Coming at a time when few women held prominent positions in academic medicine and research science, Rowley's recognition underscored both the significance of her scientific contributions and her role as a trailblazer for women in science.
The award further solidified the translation of her decades of laboratory work into a broader public and governmental recognition of the importance of genetics in understanding and eventually treating cancer.