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Year
2021
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Colorado at Boulder │ Boulder, Colorado
Citation
With Margaret M. Murnane, for their pioneering innovations that have made high-intensity sources of x-rays practical and widely available for the study of a broad range of physical processes, including chemical reactions, at the quadrillionth-of-a-second time scale.
Year
2022
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania │ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania │ BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals │ Mainz, Germany
Citation
With Drew Weissman, for fundamental research enabling the use of mRNA as a safe, effective, and life-saving vaccine platform for the prevention of infectious disease, including COVID-19.
Year
2004
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, California
Citation
For his contributions to the understanding of computational complexity. His work helps programmers find workable solution procedures, avoiding approaches that would fail to find a solution in a reasonable amount of time. Scientific, commercial or industrial situations where his work applies include establishing least-cost schedules for industrial production, transportation routing, circuit layout, communication network design, and predicting the spatial structure of a protein from its amino acid sequencing.
Year
2000
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge | Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
With Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, for their epoch-making experimental confirmation of the 1925 prediction by Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein, who claimed on theoretical grounds that a dilute gas can condense into a large quantum-mechanical system and display properties that are usually found only on an atomic or molecular scale.
Year
2014
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
For many pioneering contributions to discoveries of novel quantum phenomena involving the interaction of atoms with electromagnetic fields and the behavior of atoms at ultra-low temperatures.
Year
2014
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Carnegie Mellon University |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Citation
With Shunichi Iwasaki, for the development and realization of the system of Perpendicular Magnetic Recording, which has enabled a dramatic increase in the storage capacity of computer-readable media.
Year
2000
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Observatoire de Haute-Provence, Saint-Michel Observatoire | Saint-Michel Observatoire, France
Citation
For the invention of speckle interferometry which permits large ground-based astronomical telescopes to achieve their full theoretical angular resolution, and for pioneering work in extending Michelson's method for performing long-baseline multi-telescope interferometry to obtain angular resolutions on the order of 10-3 arc-seconds.
Year
2013
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Citation
For establishing the cognitive basis of language variation and change through rigorous analysis of linguistic data, and for the study of non-standard dialects with significant social and cultural implications.
Year
2016
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology │ Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
For his design and implementation of multiple innovative drug delivery systems, and for his founding work in the field of tissue engineering. As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Langer established a new paradigm for translating academic ideas into practical products.
Year
2006
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, California
Citation
With M. Gordon Wolman, for advancing our understanding of how natural and human activities influence landscapes, especially for the first comprehensive explanation of why rivers have different forms and how floodplains develop. Their contributions form the basis of modern water resource management and environmental assessment.
Year
2019
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies │ Millbrook, New York
University of Connecticut │ Storrs, Connecticut
Citation
For his pioneering long-term studies of forest, stream, and lake ecosystems, and for his efforts to educate the public and the U.S. government about acid rain and other environmental issues.
Year
2015
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology │ Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
For his pioneering research on the role of metal atoms in biology and medicine, including the study of platinum anticancer drugs and of the structure and function of an enzyme that allows microbes to live on natural gas.
Year
2023
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts
Citation
For seminal contributions to computer programming languages and methodology, enabling the implementation of reliable, reusable programs.
Year
2015
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Program in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University │ Princeton, New Jersey
Citation
For his pioneering research on the sensitivity of Earth’s climate to increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and his development of global climate models, which have led to fundamental advances in the understanding of climate variability and to methods for predicting future climate change.
Year
1999
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Virginia Medical School | Charlottesville, Virginia
Citation
For his work in identifying the role of the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, and providing understanding and hope in the realm of ulcergenesis.
Year
2017
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Carnegie Mellon University│ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Citation
With Mitsuo Sawamoto, for their seminal contributions to the development of a new polymerization process involving metal catalysts. This powerful process affords unprecedented control of polymer composition and architecture, making possible new materials including improved composites, coatings, dispersants, and biomedical polymers.
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.