National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is the nation’s highest scientific honor. The award, established by Congress in 1959 and bestowed by the President, initially recognized outstanding contributions in the physical, biological, mathematical or engineering sciences. In 1980, Congress expanded the award to include the social and behavioral sciences.
Robert Clayton
Enrico Fermi Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Chemistry and Geophysical Sciences and the College.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 2004
“For his leading contributions to cosmic chemistry, from pre-solar system dust to planets, and for being an exemplary role model as a mentor, teacher and advocate for rigorous science.”
Gary Becker
Professor in Economics and Sociology; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1992; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2007.
National Medal of Science for Behavioral & Social Science, 2000
“For his pioneering the economic analysis of racial discrimination, inventing the economics of human resources, producing the major modern innovations in economic demography and in economic criminology, and leading recent developments in how social forces shape individual economic behavior.”
James Cronin
Professor Emeritus in Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Enrico Fermi Institute; Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1980.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 1999
“For his fundamental contributions to the fields of elementary particle physics and astrophysics and his leadership in creating an international effort to determine the unknown origins of very high-energy cosmic rays.”
Leo Kadanoff
John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in Physics, Mathematics, the James Franck Institute and the Enrico Fermi Institute.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 1999
“For fundamental theoretical research in the areas of statistical, solid state and nonlinear physics and, in particular, for the development of scaling techniques in these fields.”
Stuart Rice
Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry and the James Franck Institute.
National Medal of Science for Chemistry, 1999
“For changing the very nature of modern physical chemistry through his research, teaching, and writing, using imaginative approaches to both experiment and theory that have inspired a new generation of scientists.”
Felix Browder
Max Mason Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Mathematics (now at Rutgers University).
National Medal of Science for Mathematics & Computer Science, 1999
“For his pioneering work in nonlinear functional analysis and its applications to partial differential equations, and for leadership in the scientific community.”
Janet Davison Rowley
Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor in Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics.
National Medal of Science for Biological Sciences, 1998
“For revolutionizing cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment through her discovery of chromosomal translocations in cancer and her pioneering work on the relationship of prior treatment to recurring chromosome abnormalities, for epitomizing the "bench to bedside" philosophy in her application of basic discoveries to clinical medicine, and for her leadership nationally and internationally in the oncology and biomedical communities.”
Alberto Calderón (1920–1998)
Professor in Mathematics.
National Medal of Science for Mathematics & Computer Science, 1991
“For his ground-breaking work on singular integral operators leading to their application to important problems in partial differential equations, including his proof of uniqueness in the Cauchy problem, the Atiyah-Singer index theorem and the propagation of singularities of non-linear equations.”
Saunders Mac Lane
Max Mason Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Mathematics.
National Medal of Science for Mathematics & Computer Science, 1989
“For revolutionizing the language and content of modern mathematics by his collaboration in the creation and development of the fields of homological algebra and category theory, for outstanding contributions to mathematics education, and for incisive leadership of the mathematical and scientific communities.”
Eugene Parker
S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Enrico Fermi Institute.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 1989
“For his fundamental studies of plasmas, magnetic fields, and energetic particles on all astrophysical scales; for his development of the concept of solar and stellar winds; and for his studieson the effects of magnetic fields on the solar atmosphere.”
George Stigler (1911–1991)
Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the Graduate School of Business; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1982.
National Medal of Science for Behavioral & Social Science, 1987
“For his efforts to advance the understanding of industry, its internal organization and relation to government, and for initiating the study of information and markets.”
Antoni Zygmund (1900–1992)
Gustavus F. and Anne M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in Mathematics.
National Medal of Science for Mathematics & Computer Science, 1986
“For outstanding contributions to Fourier analysis and its applications to partial differential equations and other branches of analysis, and for his creation and leadership of the strongest school of analytical research in the contemporary mathematical world.”
Yoichiro Nambu
Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 1982
“For seminal contributions to the understanding of elementary particles and their interactions.”
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995)
Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics; Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1983.
National Medal of Science for Physical Sciences, 1966
“For numerous superb contributions to stellar astronomy, physics, and applied mathematics, and for his guidance and inspiration to his many students and colleagues.”