Rumford Prize Recipients
Established in 1839, this is one of the oldest scientific prizes in the United States. This prize recognizes contributions to the fields of heat and light, broadly interpreted. The award consists of a silver-and-gold medal.
2018
Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel, Ernst Bamberg, Gero Miesenböck, Karl Deisseroth, and Ed Boyden for their work in developing optogenetics.
2015
Federico Capasso and Alfred Cho for their invention of the quantum cascade laser at Bell Laboratories in 1994.
2008
Sidney D. Drell, Sam Nunn, William J. Perry, and George P. Shultz for their efforts to reduce the global threat of nuclear weapons:
1996
John C. Mather, Greenbelt, Maryland, for contributions to understanding the cosmic microwave background.
1992
James R. Norris and Joseph J. Katz, Chicago, Illinois, in conjunction with George Feher of San Diego, California for contributions to understanding photosynthesis.
1986
Robert B. Leighton, Pasadena, California, for contributions to the development of infrared astronomy.
Frank J. Low, Tucson, Arizona, for contributions to the development of infrared astronomy.
Gerry Neugebauer, Pasadena, California, for contributions to the development of infrared astronomy.
1985
Hans Georg Dehmelt, Seattle, Washington, for contributions to atomic spectroscopy.
Martin Deutsch, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for contributions to atomic spectroscopy.
Vernon Willard Hughes, New Haven, Connecticut, for contributions to atomic spectroscopy.
Norman Foster Ramsey, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for contributions to atomic spectroscopy.
1980
Gregorio Weber, Urbana, Illinois, for his work on the theory and application of fluorescence.
Chen Ning Yang, Stony Brook, New York, for development of a generalized guage invariant field theory.
Robert Mills, Columbus, Ohio, for development of a generalized gauge invariant field theory.
1976
Bruno Rossi, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his discoveries concerning the nature and origins of cosmic radiations.
1973
E. Bright Wilson, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his early recognition of the importance of symmetry properties in polyatomic molecules and for his active and pioneering development of microwave spectroscopy.
1971
Three groups of scientists (see below) for their work in the field of long-baseline interferometry.
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M.I.T. Group John A. Ball |
Canadian Group Norman W. Broten |
NRAO-Cornell Group C. C. Bare |
1968
Maarten Schmidt, Pasadena, California, for his discoveries in the spectra of quasi-stellar objects.
1967
Robert Henry Dicke, Princeton, New Jersey, for his contributions to microwave radiometry and to the understanding of atomic structure.
Cornelis B. Van Niel, Stanford, California, for his contributions to the understanding of photosynthesis.
1965
Samuel Cornette Collins, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his invention of the Collins Helium Cryostat and his pioneer work in low-temperature research.
William David McElroy, Baltimore, Maryland, in recognition of his work on the molecular basis of bioluminescence.
1963
Hans Albrecht Bethe, Ithaca, New York, for his theoretical studies of energy production in stars.
1961
Charles Hard Townes, New York, New York, for his development of the laser.
1959
George Wald, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his studies on the biochemical basis of vision.
1957
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, for his work on the radiative transfer of energy in the interior of stars.
1955
James Franck, Chicago, Illinois, for his fundamental studies on photosynthesis.
1953
Enrico Fermi, Chicago, Illinois, for his studies of radiation theory and nuclear energy.
Willis E.Lamb, Jr., Stanford, California, for his studies of the atomic hydrogen spectrum.
Lars Onsager, New Haven, Connecticut, for his contribution to the thermodynamics of transport processes.
1951
Herbert E. Ives, Montclair, New Jersey, for his noteworthy contributions to optics.
1949
Ira Sprague Bowen, Pasadena, California, for his solution of the mystery of nebulium and for other outstanding work in spectroscopy.
1947
Edmund Newton Harvey, Princeton, New Jersey, for his fundamental investigations of the nature of bioluminescence.
1945
Edwin Herbert Land, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his new applications in polarized light and photography.
1943
Charles Edward Mees, Rochester, New York, for his contributions to the science of photography.
1941
Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Princeton, New Jersey, for his invention of the iconoscope and other television devices.
1939
George Russell Harrison, Belmont, Massachusetts, for his improvements in spectroscopic technique.
1937
William Weber Coblentz, Washington, DC, for his pioneering work in the technology and measurement of heat and light.
1933
Harlow Shapley, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for research on the luminosity of stars and galaxies.
1931
Karl Taylor Compton, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for research in thermionics and spectroscopy.
1930
John Stanley Plaskett, Victoria, British Columbia, for his stellar spectrographic research.
1928
Edward Leamington Nichols, Ithaca, New York, for his research in spectrophotometry.
1926
Arthur Holly Compton, Chicago, Illinois, for his research in Roentgen rays.
1925
Henry Norris Russell, Princeton, New Jersey, for his research in stellar radiation.
1920
Irving Langmuir, Schenectady, New York, for his research in thermionic and allied phenomena.
1918
Theodore Lyman, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his research on light of very short wavelength.
1917
Percy Willliams Bridgeman, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his thermodynamic research at extremely high pressures.
1915
Charles Greeley Abbot, Washington, DC, for his research on solar radiation.
1914
William David Coolidge, Schenectady, New York, for his invention of ductile tungsten and its application in the production of radiation.
1913
Joel Stebbins, Urbana, Illinois, for his development of the selenium photometer and its application to astronomical problems.
1912
Frederic Eugene Ives, Woodcliff-on-Hudson, New York, for his optical inventions, particularly in color photography and photoengraving.
1911
James Madison Crafts, Boston, Massachusetts, for his research in high-temperature thermometry and the exact determination of new fixed points on the thermometric scale.
1910
Charles Gordon Curtis, New York, New York, for his improvements in the utilization of heat as work in the steam turbine.
1909
Robert Williams Wood, Baltimore, Maryland, for his discoveries in light, and particularly for his research on the optical properties of sodium and other metallic vapors.
1907
Edward Goodrich Acheson, Niagara Falls, New York, for the application of heat in the electric furnace to the industrial production of carborundum, graphite, and other new and useful substances.
1904
Ernest Fox Nichols, New York, New York, for his research on radiation, particularly on the pressure due to radiation, the heat of the stars, and the infrared spectrum.
1902
George Ellery Hale, Chicago, Illinois, for his investigations in solar and stellar physics and in particular for the invention and perfection of the spectro-heliograph.
1901
Elihu Thomson, Lynn, Massachusetts, for his inventions in electric welding and lighting.
1900
Carl Barus, Providence, Rhode Island, for his research in heat.
1899
Charles Francis Brush, Cleveland, Ohio, for the practical development of electric arc-lighting.
1898
James Edward Keeler, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for his application of the spectroscope to astronomical problems, and especially for his investigations of the proper motions of the nebulae and the physical constitution of the rings of the planet Saturn by the use of that instrument.
1895
Thomas Alva Edison, Orange, New Jersey, for his investigations in electric lighting.
1891
Edward Charles Pickering, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his work on the photometry of the stars and upon stellar spectra.
1888
Albert Abraham Michelson, Cleveland, Ohio, for his determination of the velocity of light, for his research on the motion of the luminferous ether, and for his work on the absolute determination of the wavelengths of light.
1886
Samuel Pierpont Langley, Allegheny, Philadelphia, for his research in radiant energy.
1883
Henry Augustus Rowland, Baltimore, Maryland, for his research in light and heat.
1880
Josiah Willard Gibbs, New Haven, Connecticut, for his research in thermodynamics.
1875
John William Draper, New York, New York, for his research on radiant energy.
1873
Lewis Morris Rutherford, New York, New York, for his improvements in the processes and methods of astronomical photography.
1871
Joseph Harrison, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his method of constructing safer steam boilers.
1869
George Henry Corliss, Providence, Rhode Island, for his improvement in the steam engine.
1866
Alvan Clark, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his improvements in the manufacture of refracting telescopes, as exhibited in his method of local correction.
1865
Daniel Treadwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for improvements in the management of heat, embodied in his investigations and inventions relating to the construction of cannon of large caliber, and great strength and endurance.
1862
John Ericsson, New York, New York, for his improvements in the management of heat, particularly as shown in his caloric engine of 1858.
1839
Robert Hare, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his invention of the "compound" or "oxyhydrogen" blowpipe.