Franklin Award-Winning Contributors
Contributors Franklin
Which AccessScience authors have won a Franklin Institute Award?
Laureates from 1998–present are shown.
John N. Bahcall
(2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics)
For his work that led to an understanding of neutrino emission from the Sun
Article(s):
Solar neutrinos
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Jillian F. Banfield
(2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science)
For discovering the underlying principles of mineral formation and alteration by microbes, which are critical to understanding the form, composition, and distribution of minerals in the presence of living organisms
Article(s):
Geomicrobiology
Image credit: Andrei Smith © The Franklin Institute
Robert A. Berner
(2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science)
For deepening our understanding of the Earth system through studies of the chemistry of geologic processes and their influence on the atmosphere and oceans
Article(s):
Biogeochemistry
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
John W. Cahn
(2002 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science)
For profound contributions to the understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations
Article(s):
Quasicrystal
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Ralph J. Cicerone
(1999 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science)
For his fundamental contributions to our understanding of greenhouse gases and the depletion of the ozone layer
Article(s):
Halogen elements
Image credit: National Academy of Sciences
Ingrid Daubechies
(2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering)
For fundamental discoveries in the field of compact representations of data, leading to efficient image compression as used in digital photography
Article(s):
Wavelets
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
John B. Goodenough
(2018 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry)
For his development of the first practical, rechargeable lithium-ion battery cathode material, lithium cobalt oxide, which has revolutionized lightweight, portable electric power
Article(s):
Electric insulator
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Harry B. Gray
(2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry)
For his pioneering contributions in the field of electron transfer in metalloproteins
Article(s):
Electron-transfer reaction
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Narain Hingorani
(2006 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science)
For the conceptualization and pioneering advancement of the Flexible AC Transmission System and Custom Power in electric power systems, and for outstanding technical contributions in High Voltage Direct Current Technology, which have enhanced the quality and security of the electric power system
Article(s):
Electric power substation; Static var compensator
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Wolfgang Ketterle
(2000 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics)
For his 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
Article(s):
Atom laser; Bose-Einstein condensation
Image credit: Ken Zirkel
Daniel Kleppner
(2014 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics)
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
Article(s):
Photon
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Luna B. Leopold
(2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science)
Spent a lifetime studying rivers and streams and learning how they change over time and influence the Earth's landscape
Article(s):
Stream transport and deposition; Swamp, marsh, and bog
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Gene E. Likens
(2019 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science)
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
Article(s):
Meromictic lake
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Arthur B. McDonald
(2007 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics)
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
Article(s):
Solar neutrinos
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Jerrold Meinwald
(2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry)
For his pioneering work leading to the establishment of the field of chemical ecology
Article(s):
Pheromone
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Shuji Nakamura
(2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering)
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
Article(s):
Blue lasers
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Alexandra Navrotsky
(2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science)
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
Article(s):
Perovskite
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
W. Richard Peltier
(2010 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science)
For fundamental advances in the understanding of Earth Systems, by demonstrating profound interconnections between surface climate variability, as evidenced in the hydrosphere and cryosphere, and the internal properties and dynamics of the solid Earth
Article(s):
Convection in the Earth
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Arun G. Phadke
(2008 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering)
For pioneering contributions to the development and application of microprocessor controllers in electric power systems
Article(s):
Transmission lines
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Helen Rhoda Quinn
(2018 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics)
For her pioneering contributions to the long-term quest for a unified theory of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions of fundamental particles
Article(s):
CP symmetry and its violation
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Alexander Rich
(2000 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science)
For his key discoveries that underlie our understanding of three-dimensional structures and function of RNA and DNA molecules
Article(s):
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Image credit: MIT Department of Biology
John A. Rogers
(2019 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Materials Engineering)
For pioneering the engineering of flexible and stretchable electronic systems for e-health and exploratory neuroscience
Article(s):
Printable semiconductors for flexible electronics
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Gerhard M. Sessler
(2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering)
For the invention and development of the first practical electret microphone, which can inexpensively be made small enough to fit into cellular phones, digital cameras, and other portable devices
Article(s):
Electret; Electret transducer; Microphone
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
Charles H. Thornton
(2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering)
For his insightful and imaginative use of common structural elements in the design of long span structures and high rise buildings; for his leadership role in the investigation of structural failures, coupled with the translation of these failure investigations into lessons for the design of safer structures; and for his tireless work to motivate high school students to pursue careers in structural engineering, architecture and the construction industry
Article(s):
Truss
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
George M. Whitesides
(2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry)
For his pioneering chemical research in the field of molecular self-assembly and his invention of rapid, innovative techniques for the inexpensive fabrication of ultra-small devices for practical use
Article(s):
Soft lithography
Image credit: © The Franklin Institute
