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Year
2003
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Stanford University | Stanford, California
Citation
For his multiple contributions to the foundations of artificial intelligence and computer science including the development of the LISP language, the invention of time-sharing interactive programming, and key developments in the application of formal logic to common sense reasoning.
Year
2007
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Queen's University | Ontario, Canada
Citation
With Yoji Totsuka, for discovering that the three known types of elementary particles called neutrinos change into one another when traveling over sufficiently long distances, and that neutrinos have mass.
Year
2013
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Cornell University |
Ithaca, New York
Citation
For his pioneering work leading to the establishment of the field of chemical ecology. His fundamental studies of how chemicals act as repellents and attractants between organisms pave the way for the use of these chemicals in a variety of biomedical, agricultural, forestry and household applications.
Year
2015
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania │ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania │ Visiting Professor, Loughborough University │ Loughborough, United Kingdom
Citation
With Charles Kane and Shoucheng Zhang, for their groundbreaking theoretical contributions leading to the discovery of a new class of materials called topological insulators, and for their prediction of specific compounds exhibiting the novel properties expected of these new materials.
Year
2024
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The University of Texas at Austin │ Austin, Texas
Citation
For his pioneering role in the design, development, and commercialization of Ethernet, an interface for networking and file sharing between computers.
Year
2004
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Brandeis University | Waltham, Massachusetts
Citation
For his creative synthesis of theory and experiment demonstrating that tilted, layered liquid crystal phases of chiral molecules are ferroelectric, thus launching both fundamental scientific advancement in the field of soft condensed matter physics and the development of liquid crystal displays that meet the demands of current technology.
Year
2012
Subject
Earth and Environmental Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The Ohio State University |
Columbus, Ohio
Citation
With Lonnie Thompson, for their collective studies of ice cores from around the world which have improved the understanding of Earth's climate history, including the role of the tropics in global climate change.
Year
2021
Subject
Mechanical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Maryland │ College Park, Maryland │ National Academy of Engineering │ Washington, D.C.
Citation
For his outstanding contributions, through application of theory, analysis, and inventive experimentation, to the understanding of the dynamics of practical systems such as saws, skis, and conveyor belts, thereby increasing their safety, efficiency, and economy.
Year
2021
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of Colorado at Boulder │ Boulder, Colorado
Citation
With Henry C. Kapteyn, 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
2002
Subject
Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
California NanoSystems Institute | Los Angeles, California
Citation
For his fundamental contributions to the optoelectronic technology of gallium-nitride, which culminated in the development of violet/blue laser diodes and in the implementation of High Brightness Light Emitting Diodes. These devices improve today's technology and have the potential of revolutionizing the lighting industry. Dr. Nakamura's success in gallium-nitride epitaxy started worldwide research in gallium-nitride semiconductor technology.
Year
2005
Subject
Physics
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois
Citation
For his path-breaking contributions leading to our modern understanding of sub-atomic particles--the Standard Model. His work has revolutionized our ideas about the nature of the most fundamental particles and the space through which they move.
Year
2021
Subject
Life Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Johns Hopkins Medical School │ Baltimore, Maryland
Citation
For his groundbreaking research on the genetics of the visual system, including the identification of key genes involved in eye development, eye diseases, and color vision.
Year
2002
Subject
Earth Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
University of California, Davis I Davis, California
Citation
For her wide spectrum of accomplishments in crystal chemistry that have importantly contributed to the fields of bonding energies, ceramic and materials research, chemical equilibria, geology, mantle petrology, and thermodynamics. For example, her findings have established, convincingly, the identity of materials at hundreds of kilometers of depth in the Earth that otherwise are inaccessible to direct observation.
Year
2014
Subject
Mechanical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Blacksburg, Virginia |University of Jordan | Amman, Jordan
Citation
For the development of novel methods to model complex engineering systems in structural dynamics, acoustics, fluid mechanics and electromechanical systems.
Year
2004
Subject
Electrical Engineering
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The Pennsylvania State University | University Park, Pennsylvania
Citation
For his invention of multiphase piezoelectric transducers and their spatial architecture, which revolutionized the field of acoustic imaging.
Year
2015
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University │ Washington, D.C.
Citation
For her contributions to understanding the nature of human language, including the acquisition of spoken and visual language in both typically developing children and those developing in atypical environments; to characterizing critical periods for language learning; and to improving methods for language recovery after damage to the brain.
Year
2011
Subject
Chemistry
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
The Scripps Research Institute |
University of California, San Diego |
La Jolla, California
Citation
For his achievements in synthetic organic chemistry, particularly for the development of methods for preparing complex substances found in nature, which have potential applications in the field of medicine.
Year
2006
Subject
Computer and Cognitive Science
Award
Benjamin Franklin Medal
Affiliation
Nielsen Norman Group | Palo Alto, California
Citation
For the development of the field of user-centered design, which utilizes our understanding of how people think to develop technologies designed to be easily usable.
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.