Laureates Search

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Year
2003
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Citation
With Masatoshi Koshiba and John N. Bahcall, for their work that led to an understanding of neutrino emission from the sun.
Year
2007
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
IBM Research Division | Yorktown Heights, New York
Citation
For inventing computer memory circuits called DRAMs that are small, inexpensive, and fast enough to permit powerful, affordable personal computers, and for contributing to the development of the mathematical formula used in shrinking circuits to allow more speed and complexity.
Year
1998
Subject
Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Alcatel Alsthom Research Center | Marcoussis, France
Citation
With David Payne, for fundamental technical contributions and leadership critical to the successful development of the Erbuim-Doped Fiber Amplifier and for the championship of this project.
Year
2017
Subject
Materials Science and Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology │ Cambridge, Massachusetts

Citation

For her fundamental contributions to the understanding and exploitation of carbon nanomaterials, such as the spheres known as buckminsterfullerenes, the cylindrical pipes called nanotubes, and the single-atom-thick sheets of carbon known as graphene, and for launching the field of low-dimensional thermoelectricity, the direct conversion of heat to electricity.

Year
2022
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Georgia Institute of Technology │ Atlanta, Georgia
Citation
With P. Daniel Dapkus, for pioneering the technology that provides the materials quality and ultra-precision required for many device components central to modern life, including LEDs, transistors, lasers, and high-performance solar cells.
Year
2023
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation

University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, Minnesota

Citation

For fundamental advances in high-precision methods for dating geologic records of climate change, leading to a more detailed understanding of the earth’s climate system over the past million years.

Year
1999
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The Bootstrap Institute | Freemont, CA
Citation
For his outstanding contributions in computer hardware and software that revolutionized human-computer interactions.
Year
2023
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation

University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Citation

For transformative innovations in engineering novel materials that interact with electromagnetic waves in unprecedented ways, with broad applications in ultrafast computing and communication technologies.

Year
2008
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich │Zürich, Switzerland │ The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology │The Scripps Research Institute La Jolla, California
Citation
For seminal investigations into the origin of nucleic acid structure, which through systematic chemical synthesis have begun to answer the fundamentally important question of why DNA and RNA have the structures they do.
Year
2007
Subject
Materials Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
For outstanding contributions to understanding the fundamental and technological aspects of the solidification of metallic alloys, including research leading to the development of a new industry known as semi-solid metalworking.
Year
2001
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Harvard University Medical School | Boston, Massachusetts
Citation
For founding of field of angiogenesis research
Year
2014
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Columbia University | New York, New York
Citation
For the development of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, for using this technology to investigate the structure of large organic molecules at high resolution, and for discoveries regarding the mechanism of protein synthesis in cells.
Year
2023
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation

The Rockefeller University | New York, New York

Citation

For elucidating the genetics of skin diseases and mechanisms that guide skin renewal, yielding insights into aging, inflammation, and cancer.

Year
2010
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Weizmann Institute of Science | Rehovot, Israel
Citation
For her fundamental contributions to the theoretical foundation of modern cryptography, which led to techniques that can guarantee secure access to the Internet.
Year
2016
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Southern California │ Los Angeles, California
Citation
For pioneering work in space communications and the design of digital spread spectrum signals, transmissions that provide security, interference suppression, and precise location for cryptography; missile guidance; defense, space, and cellular communications; radar; sonar; and GPS.
Year
2003
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The Jane Goodall Institute | Silver Spring, Maryland
Citation
For her pioneering studies with chimpanzees.
Year
2018
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Texas at Austin│ Austin, Texas
Citation
For his development of the first practical, rechargeable lithium-ion battery cathode material, lithium cobalt oxide, which has revolutionized lightweight, portable electric power.
Year
2000
Subject
Earth Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis | Minneapolis, MN
Citation
For seminal contributions in understanding the ways plants interact with their environment, and the use of this knowledge to measure the source of the contents of air, and the effects of air contents on plants and the environment in general.
Year
2009
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | New Brunswick, New Jersey
Citation

For pioneering research leading to our understanding of the unique ecosystems near volcanic vents at the sea floor, the first ever found fueled by chemical energy from the Earth's interior instead of sunlight.

Year
2004
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, California
Citation
For his pioneering contributions in the field of electron transfer in metalloproteins.



Notes:

  • "Franklin" Medals are not the same as "Benjamin Franklin" Medals. The Benjamin Franklin Medal was initiated in 1998 to represent the combined legacies of several historic medals, including the Franklin Medal.
  • The Scott Medal is awarded by the City of Philadelphia. Prior to 1920, the Institute's Committee on Science and the Arts selected the medalists and the Scott Medals were presented on Awards Day at The Franklin Institute.
  • For more information about The Franklin Institute Awards program, contact the Awards Program Director at awards@fi.edu.