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Golden Plate Awardees

The Golden Plate Award has been presented since 1961 by the American Academy of Achievement to approximately 25 guests of honor at the International Achievement Summit. Chosen by the Academy’s Awards Council and other distinguished authorities, these men and women of exceptional accomplishment in the sciences, the professions, business, industry, arts, literature, sports, entertainment, and public service are acclaimed … not as winners, but as visionaries and achievers who represent the many who excel.

Featured Honorees
The Arts
1960s
Thomas Hart Benton
Painter and Muralist
Herbert L. Block
Three Pulitzer Prizes for Editorial Cartooning
Bob Hope
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
Yousuf Karsh
Portrait Photography
Theodore Roethke
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
William Wyler
Three Oscars for Best Director
King Vidor
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
David Merrick
Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement
Lee J. Cobb
Film and Stage Actor
Allan Nevins, Ph.D.
Two Pulitzer Prizes for History
Allen Drury
Pulitzer Prize for Advise and Consent
Philippe Halsman
111 Covers for Life Magazine
David L. Wolper
Television Producer
1970s
Shirley Temple Black
Film Actress and Diplomat
George Cukor
Oscar for My Fair Lady
John Wayne
Legendary Film Actor
James A. Michener
Storytelling Phenomenon
Irving Stone
Master of the Biographical Novel
Louis I. Kahn
The Philosopher Architect
Lowell Thomas
Broadcaster and Author
Frank Capra
Three Oscars for Best Director
Helen Hayes
First Lady of the American Theater
Rosalind Russell
Actress and Humanitarian
Jimmy Stewart
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
Ray Charles
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Will and Ariel Durant
Pulitzer Prize for History
Stevie Wonder
Singer, Songwriter and Activist
John Chancellor
Broadcast Journalism
Alex Haley
Author of Roots
Olivia de Havilland
Two Oscars for Best Actress
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Days
Henry Fonda
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
Louis L’Amour
Western Novelist
1980s
Clint Eastwood
Motion Picture Actor and Director
Norman Lear
Television Producer
Charles M. Schulz
Cartoonist, Creator of "Peanuts"
Cicely Tyson
Award-winning Actress
Quincy Jones
Music Impresario
John Travolta
Trendsetting Motion Picture Actor
David McCullough
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Biography
Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D.
Philosopher and Author
Lionel Richie
Singer and Musician
Elizabeth Taylor
Two Oscars for Best Actress
Clare Boothe Luce
Author and Diplomat
Loretta Lynn
Legend of Country Music
Joseph Papp
Theatrical Producer and Director
Leontyne Price
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Robert Rauschenberg
Prolific American Painter
Steven Spielberg
Film Director and Producer
Herman Wouk
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
John L. Ashbery
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Suzanne Farrell
Ballerina Extraordinaire
Jim Henson
The Muppet Master
Lloyd Richards
Tony Award-winning Director
Diane Sawyer
Broadcast Journalism
Roy Acuff
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Johnny Cash
Country Music Hall of Fame
E. L. Doctorow
American Book Award
Michael Douglas
Oscar for Best Actor
Ahmet M. Ertegun
Music Industry
Wynton Marsalis
Pulitzer Prize for Music
August Wilson
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama
Tom Brokaw
Television Journalist and Author
Henry Mancini
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Mike Nichols
Motion Picture and Stage Director
Beverly Sills
Legendary Opera Soprano
1990s
Maya Angelou
Poet and Historian
Audrey Hepburn
Actress and Humanitarian
Ken Burns
Documentary Classics
Chuck Jones
Animation Pioneer
Dizzy Gillespie
Jazz Musician, Composer and Bandleader
Robert A. M. Stern
Architecture
Philip C. Johnson
Dean of American Architects
Peter Matthiessen
Naturalist and Novelist
James Merrill
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Martin Scorsese
Film Director, Screenwriter and Producer
Wallace Stegner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Barbara Walters
Broadcast Journalism
Michael Crichton, M.D.
Bestselling Author
Jessye Norman
Legendary Opera Soprano
Dolly Parton
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Oliver Stone
Motion Picture Production
Barbra Streisand
53 Gold Albums and Two Oscars for Best Actress
Betty Comden
Musical Comedy Author
Pat Conroy
Bestselling Novelist
John Grisham
Bestselling Author
Twyla Tharp
Dancer and Choreographer
Francis Ford Coppola
Filmmaker, Producer and Screenwriter
Robert De Niro
Actor, Director and Producer
Harrison Ford
Motion Picture Actor
John Napier
Theatre Design
Lesley Stahl
Broadcast Journalism
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Ph.D.
Education and Literature
Frank O. Gehry
Architecture Gold Medalist
James M. McPherson, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom
Trevor Nunn
Theatrical Director
Mike Wallace
CBS News Correspondent
Richard Wilbur
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry
Robin Williams
Comedian, Actor and Activist
Bob Woodward
The Washington Post
John Hope Franklin, Ph.D.
Educator and Historian
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for History
James Earl Jones
National Medal of Arts
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall
Motion Picture Production
Richard Meier
Architecture
Amy Tan
Bestselling Novelist
Joyce Carol Oates
National Book Award
Gloria Estefan
Presidential Medal of Freedom
James Cameron
Film Futurist
Morgan Freeman
Master Screen Craftsman
Alice Waters
Culinary Revolution
A. Scott Berg
Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Shelby Foote
Novelist and Historian
Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul
Frank McCourt
Pulitzer Prize for Biography
2000s
Clive Davis
Music Industry
Jeremy Irons
Stage and Screen Actor
Maya Lin
Artist and Architect
Edna O’Brien
Novelist and Memoirist
Salman Rushdie
Novelist and Essayist
John Williams
Award-winning Composer
Chuck Berry
Father of Rock and Roll
Bono
Musician and Activist
Xingjian Gao
Nobel Prize in Literature
Plácido Domingo
Internationally Acclaimed Tenor
Bob Dylan
Icon of American Culture
Dame Julie Andrews
Stage and Screen Actress
José Carreras
Internationally Acclaimed Tenor
B.B. King
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Santiago Calatrava
Gold Medal for Architecture
Emmylou Harris
Musician and Humanitarian
Norman Mailer
National Book Award for Lifetime Achievement
John Updike
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction
Edward Albee
Three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama
Sally Field
Two Oscars for Best Actress
John Irving
National Book Award
Toni Morrison
Nobel Prize in Literature
Itzhak Perlman
Pre-eminent Violinist of the 20th Century
Stephen Sondheim
Composer and Lyricist
Denzel Washington
Oscar for Best Actor
Tom Wolfe
America's Master Novelist
Joan Didion
Novelist and Essayist
Carlos Fuentes
Mexico's Greatest Novelist
Sir Peter Jackson
Oscar for Best Director
Samuel L. Jackson
Actor and Activist
Sonny Rollins
Greatest Living Jazz Soloist
Julie Taymor
Theater, Opera and Film Director
Gore Vidal
Novelist and Social Critic
Nora Ephron
Author and Filmmaker
Harold Prince
Broadway Producer and Director
Rick Atkinson
Pulitzer Prize for History
Joshua Bell
Grammy Award-winning Violinist
Janusz Kaminski
Two Oscars for Cinematography
Nicholas D. Kristof
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism
W. S. Merwin
Two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry
Michael Ondaatje
Author, The English Patient
Brian Wilson
Music Producer and Performer
Tony Bennett
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Nadine Gordimer
Nobel Prize in Literature
Wole Soyinka
Nobel Prize in Literature
Audra McDonald
Six Tony Awards
Carol Burnett
Television Hall of Fame
Athol Fugard
Playwright, Actor and Director
Carole King
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Jeff Koons
Contemporary Art Phenomenon
Sidney Poitier
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
Diana Ross
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Wayne Shorter
Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement
Featured Honorees
Public Service
1960s
General Douglas MacArthur, USA
General of the Army
Alan T. Waterman, Ph.D.
Science and Public Service
Louis Nizer
Trial Lawyer and Author
General Holland M. Smith, USMC
Father of Modern Amphibious Warfare
General Benjamin D. Foulois, USAF
Father of U.S. Military Aviation
Rev. Billy Graham
Missionary and Evangelist
Helen Keller
Author and Political Activist
General B. A. Schriever, USAF
Father of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program
Bernard Kilgore
Journalism
Paul Freund, S.J.D.
Constitutional Law
Daniel K. Inouye
War Hero and Statesman
1970s
Gerald R. Ford
38th President of the United States
Milton Friedman, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Economics
Leon Jaworski
Law and Public Service
Howard Baker
Distinguished Public Servant
General George S. Brown, USAF
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Lee A. DuBridge, Ph.D.
President Emeritus of Cal Tech
Caspar W. Weinberger
Law and Public Service
General Alexander Haig, Jr., USA
Soldier and Statesman
Shirley M. Hufstedler
Law and Public Service
Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN
Medal of Honor
Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, USAF
Aviation Pioneer and Recipient of the Medal of Honor
Robert Moses
Master Builder
General Dan Shomron
Israeli Hero of the Entebbe Rescue
John J. Sirica
Watergate Trial Judge
Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Nobel Prize for Peace
General Omar N. Bradley, USA
General of the Army
Clark M. Clifford
Lawyer and Presidential Advisor
Frank M. Johnson, Jr.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Seán MacBride
Nobel Prize for Peace
William H. Webster
Director of the FBI
Colonel Ulrich Wegener
Commando Rescue of 86 Hostages
General David C. Jones, USAF
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1980s
General Bernard W. Rogers, USA
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander
Ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor
"The Great Escape" from Iran
Hanna H. Gray, Ph.D.
President, University of Chicago
Sam Ervin, Jr.
Lawyer, Jurist, Legislator and Patriot
General John W. Vessey, Jr., USA
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Ambassador Sol M. Linowitz
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Business and Public Service
William French Smith
U.S. Attorney General
Ernest L. Boyer, Ph.D.
Education
Andrew J. Young
Civil Rights Ambassador
Jimmy Carter
Nobel Prize for Peace
Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg
Publisher, Philanthropist and Diplomat
Betty Ford
Distinguished Volunteer Service
General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Daniel Boorstin, J.S.D.
The Librarian of Congress
Paul H. Nitze
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Lt. General Vernon A. Walters, USA
Ambassador to the United Nations
John C. Whitehead
Financier and Statesman
Sandra Day O’Connor
First Woman Justice, United States Supreme Court
Henry Rosovsky, Ph.D.
Education and Economics
Benjamin C. Bradlee
The Washington Post
General Colin L. Powell, USA
Former Secretary of State, United States of America
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Vartan Gregorian, Ph.D.
Education
1990s
Ralph Nader
Consumer Crusader
Ronald W. Reagan
40th President of the United States
Jack Kemp
Sports and Public Service
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA
Commander, Operation Desert Storm
Robert M. Gates
Director of Central Intelligence
Marian Wright Edelman
Children's Defense Fund
Vincent J. Scully, Ph.D.
Architectural Historian and Teacher
General John M. Shalikashvili, USA
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
George H. W. Bush
41st President of the United States
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Lady Bird Johnson
Congressional Gold Medal
Rosa Parks
Congressional Gold Medal
Elie Wiesel
Nobel Prize for Peace
Stephen J. Breyer
Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Barbara Pierce Bush
Advocate of Family Literacy
Coretta Scott King
Pioneer of Civil Rights
James A. Baker III
Former Secretary of State, United States of America
Richard B. Cheney
46th Vice President of the United States
Alan K. Simpson
United States Senate
George J. Tenet
Director of Central Intelligence
Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke
Diplomacy
H.E. Valdas Adamkus
President of the Republic of Lithuania
2000s
Benazir Bhutto
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Mikhail S. Gorbachev
Nobel Prize for Peace
Ruth J. Simmons, Ph.D.
President, Brown University
H.E. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
President of the Republic of Latvia
Lech Walesa
Nobel Prize for Peace
Ehud Barak
Former Prime Minister of Israel
Gary Becker, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Economics
John L. Hennessy, Ph.D.
President, Stanford University
William J. Clinton
42nd President of the United States
Richard M. Daley
Mayor of Chicago
John Hume
Nobel Prize for Peace
Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.
Former Secretary of State, United States of America
H.E. Lennart Meri
President of the Republic of Estonia
George J. Mitchell
Presidential Medal of Freedom
José Ramos-Horta
Nobel Prize for Peace
David Trimble
Nobel Prize for Peace
Hillary Clinton
Former Secretary of State, United States of America
Tom Daschle
United States Senate
Rudolph Giuliani
Former Mayor of New York City
John McCain
United States Senate
Antonin Scalia
Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Shimon Peres
Nobel Prize for Peace
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Nobel Prize for Peace
H.M. King Abdullah
King of Jordan
H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
President of the Republic of Turkey
Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Prize for Peace
Anthony M. Kennedy
Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Bernard Kouchner, M.D.
Founder, Doctors Without Borders
Lawrence H. Summers, Ph.D.
President, Harvard University
Mohamed ElBaradei
Nobel Prize for Peace
Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
Science and Education
Wendy Kopp
Founder and President of Teach for America
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor of Los Angeles
Laura Bush
First Lady of the United States
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Nobel Prize for Peace
Paul Farmer, M.D.
Founder, Partners In Health
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa
Legend of the Liberation Struggle
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Economics
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
U.S. Attorney General
Leon Panetta
U.S. Secretary of Defense
General David H. Petraeus, USA
Soldier and Scholar
Sonia Sotomayor
Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Governor of California
Admiral William H. McRaven, USN
Special Operations Command
Aung San Suu Kyi
Nobel Prize for Peace
Featured Honorees
Science & Exploration
1960s
Luis W. Alvarez, Ph.D.
Developer of the Hydrogen Bubble Chamber
Charles Stark Draper, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Gyroscope
Rear Adm. George Dufek, USN
South Polar Exploration
Clarence L. (Kelly) Johnson
Aircraft Design Engineer
Willard F. Libby, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Edward Teller, Ph.D.
Father of the Hydrogen Bomb
Lieutenant Don Walsh, USN
Undersea Exploration
Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
John R. Pierce, Ph.D.
Pioneer of Satellite Communications
Jacqueline Cochran
Aviation Hall of Fame
Colonel John H. Glenn, USMC
First American to Orbit the Earth
Edwin M. McMillan, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Walter H. Munk, Ph.D.
Pioneering Oceanographer
William H. Pickering, Ph.D.
Interplanetary Exploration
Howard H. Aiken
Father of the Computer
Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Harold Edgerton, Ph.D.
Father of Strobeflash Photography
Adrian Kantrowitz, M.D.
Artificial Heart Implant
E. C. Kendall, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Cortisone
Irvine H. Page, M.D.
Discoverer of Serotonin
George Gaylord Simpson, Ph.D.
Zoology and Paleontology
Harold C. Urey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
John Archibald Wheeler, Ph.D.
Theoretical Physicist
Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.
Father of Modern Cardiovascular Surgery
Claude E. Shannon, Ph.D.
Father of Information Theory
Gordon K. Teal, Ph.D.
Inventor, First Silicon Transistor
Captain James A. Lovell, Jr., USN
Commander of Apollo 13's Perilous Flight
Vladimir Zworykin, Ph.D.
Father of Television
Denton A. Cooley, M.D.
Heart Transplant Pioneer
Lt. Col. William A. Anders, USAF
Astronaut Hall of Fame
Colonel Frank Borman, USAF
Space Exploration
Charles H. Townes, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Maser and Laser
1970s
Jack S. Kilby
Inventor of the Integrated Circuit
Rita Levi-Montalcini, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Norman E. Borlaug, Ph.D.
Father of the Green Revolution
Herbert C. Brown, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
H. Gobind Khorana, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.
Inventor of the Artificial Kidney and Heart
Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Plutonium
Sir Edmund Hillary
Conqueror of Mount Everest
Neil Armstrong
First Man on the Moon
Tenzing Norgay
First Man to Stand Atop Mt. Everest
Paul J. Flory, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Eugene P. Wigner, D.Sc.
Nobel Prize in Physics
General Chuck Yeager, USAF
First Man to Break the Sound Barrier
Carl D. Anderson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Isaac Asimov, Ph.D.
Science Writer
Maurice R. Hilleman, Ph.D.
Developer of Mumps, Measles, Chicken Pox and Hepatitis Vaccines
George E. Palade, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Carl Sagan, Ph.D.
Astronomy and Literature
Wernher von Braun, Ph.D.
Rocket Scientist and Space Architect
Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield
Inventor of X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT Scan)
Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Lucy
Jonas Salk, M.D.
Developer of the Polio Vaccine
Allan R. Sandage, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Quasars
Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF
Commander, Apollo-Soyuz Mission
R. Buckminster Fuller
Designer, Inventor and Futurist
Samuel C. C. Ting, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize for Physics
Rosalyn S. Yalow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Philip W. Anderson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Linus C. Pauling, Ph.D.
Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Peace
Arno A. Penzias, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Patrick C. Steptoe, M.D.
Creator, World's First Test Tube Baby
1980s
Sheldon L. Glashow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.
Author, On Death and Dying
Theodore H. Maiman, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Laser
Roger W. Sperry, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Val L. Fitch, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN
First American in Space
Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.
Author and Evolutionary Theorist
Leon M. Lederman, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.
Father of Artificial Intelligence
George D. Snell, Sc.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, USN
Developer of COBOL Computer Language
David H. Hubel, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Robert K. Jarvik, M.D.
Developer, the Artificial Heart
Arthur L. Schawlow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Thomas E. Starzl, M.D.
Pioneer of Organ Transplantation
Kenneth G. Wilson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Mildred Cohn, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science
Douglas R. Hofstadter, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for Gödel, Escher, Bach
Robert Hofstadter, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Carlo Rubbia, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Chien-Shiung Wu, Ph.D.
First Lady of Physics
Donald E. Knuth, Ph.D.
Father of Computer Science
R. Bruce Merrifield, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science
David Baltimore, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Michael S. Brown, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Captain Robert L. Crippen, USN
First Space Shuttle Pilot
Freeman Dyson, Ph.D.
Theoretical Physicist and Author
Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Isidor Isaac Rabi, Ph.D., Sc.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Solomon H. Snyder, M.D.
Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Klaus Von Klitzing, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
James D. Watson, Ph.D.
Discoverer of the DNA Molecule
John Bardeen, Ph.D.
Two Nobel Prizes in Physics
Francis H. C. Crick, Ph.D.
Discoverer of the DNA Molecule
Dame Jane Goodall
Primatologist and Anthropologist
Dudley R. Herschbach, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D.
Molecular Biology
Yuan T. Lee, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Luc Montagnier, M.D.
Discoverer of the AIDS Virus
Burton Richter, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Burt Rutan
Designer of the Voyager
Julian Schwinger, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Robert W. Wilson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Donald J. Cram, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
George B. Schaller, Ph.D.
Legendary Field Zoologist
Richard Evan Schultes, Ph.D.
Legendary Ethnobotanist
James A. Van Allen, Ph.D.
Discoverer of the Magnetosphere
Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D.
Father of Sociobiology
Paul Berg, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Donald A. Glaser, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Bubble Chamber
George H. Hitchings, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
1990s
Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D.
Discoverer of the Titanic
Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Norman F. Ramsey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Harold E. Varmus, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Elias J. Corey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.
Undersea Explorer
Joseph E. Murray, M.D.
First Successful Human Organ Transplant
Arthur Kornberg, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Cancer Immunotherapy
Rudolph A. Marcus, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
E. Donnall Thomas, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Henry W. Kendall, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Captain John W. Young, USN
Commander of Apollo 16 Mission
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health
Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Astronaut and Oceanographer
Martin Rodbell, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.
Pediatric Neurosurgeon
Alfred G. Gilman, M.D., Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Joseph H. Taylor, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
George A. Olah, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Martin L. Perl, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
F. Sherwood Rowland, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.
Geneticist and Entrepreneur
Robert F. Curl, Jr., Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Peter C. Doherty, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Douglas Osheroff, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Bert Vogelstein, M.D.
Cancer Researcher
Edward Witten, Ph.D.
Theoretical Physicist
Paul D. Boyer, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Georges Charpak, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Howard Gardner, Ph.D.
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
John D. Gearhart, Ph.D.
Stem Cell Research Pioneer
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones
First Balloonists to Circle the Globe
Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.
Molecular Genetics
Lord Martin Rees
Astronomer Royal and Master of Trinity College
Janet Davison Rowley, M.D.
National Medal of Science
James A. Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D.
Stem Cell Research Pioneer
Robert B. Laughlin, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
2000s
Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Baruch S. Blumberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Developer of the Hepatitis B Vaccine
Carol Greider, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Sir Aaron Klug
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Ray Kurzweil
Developer of Optical Character Recognition
Oliver Sacks, M.D.
Neurologist and Author
Frederick Sanger, Ph.D.
Two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry
Gerard ‘t Hooft, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Ahmed Zewail, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
George F. Bass, Ph.D.
Underwater Archaeologist
Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF
First Female Space Shuttle Pilot
Lynn Margulis, Ph.D.
Evolutionary Biologist
Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.
Evolutionary Biologist
Zhores Alferov, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Paul Greengard, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Sir Harold Kroto
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sir Paul Nurse
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Immunology and Global Health
Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.
Biomedical Engineering
Peter C. Agre, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.
First American Woman in Space
Sir John Sulston
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Richard B. Axel, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Linda Buck, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Aaron Ciechanover, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
David J. Gross, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Richard Dawkins, Ph.D
Evolutionary Biologist
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Inventor of the World Wide Web
Brian J. Druker, M.D.
Developer, Gleevec Leukemia Drug
Richard E. Leakey
Paleoanthropologist and Conservationist
Craig C. Mello, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Adam G. Riess, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Frances H. Arnold, Ph.D.
Inventors Hall of Fame
Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Saul Perlmutter, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Thomas Südhof, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Featured Honorees
Business
1960s
John W. Galbreath
Industrialist and Sportsman
David H. Murdock
Investor and Developer
Peter G. Peterson
Business and Marketing
Simon Ramo, Ph.D.
Industrialist and Scientist
Kemmons Wilson
Founder of Holiday Inn
George W. Jenkins
Founder of Publix Super Markets
Charles B. (Tex) Thornton
Founder of Litton Industries
DeWitt Wallace
Co-founder, Reader's Digest
Lila Bell Acheson Wallace
Co-founder, Reader's Digest
August A. Busch, Jr.
Brewer and Civic Leader
J. R. Simplot
Agribusiness Pioneer
Ewing M. Kauffman
Industrialist and Sportsman
Malcolm Baldridge
Business Management
David Packard
Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co.
1970s
H. Ross Perot
Computer Services Entrepreneur
J. Willard Marriott
Founder of Marriott Corporation
Marriner Stoddard Eccles
Former Chairman of Federal Reserve Board
William (Bill) P. Lear
Inventor and Entrepreneur
Akio Morita
Co-founder of Sony Corporation
Charles Stewart Mott
Automotive Pioneer
Willard F. (Al) Rockwell, Jr.
Aerospace Conglomerate
Lord Roy Thomson, First Baron of Fleet
Canadian Media Entrepreneur
Ray A. Kroc
Mastermind of McDonald's Corporation
Richard M. DeVos
Co-founder of Amway
J. B. Fuqua
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
J. Kenneth Jamieson
Chairman of Exxon
Colonel Harland Sanders
Founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken
Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr.
International Engineering and Construction
William Bernbach
Legend in Advertising
Nicholas F. Brady
Finance and Public Service
Curtis L. Carlson
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Peter Kiewit
International Construction
John D. MacArthur
Chairman of Bankers Life and Casualty Company
Sir Yue-Kong Pao
Founder of World's Largest Shipping Company
Armand Hammer, M.D.
Chairman of Occidental Petroleum
Ray L. Hunt
Chairman of Hunt Oil Company
J. Robert Fluor
International Construction
George P. Mitchell
Energy and Development
Gerald D. Hines
Real Estate Development
Donald M. Kendall
International Industrialist
Jay A. Pritzker
Finance and Hotels
1980s
Robert O. Anderson
Founder and Chairman of Atlantic Richfield Oil Co.
A. W. (Tom) Clausen
Chairman, Bank of America
Jay Van Andel
Co-founder of Amway
Herbert W. Boyer, Ph.D.
Co-founder of Genentech
Trammell Crow
Real Estate Development
William R. Hewlett
Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Company
James W. Rouse
Real Estate Development
Arnold O. Beckman, Ph.D.
Inventor and Entrepreneur
Nolan K. Bushnell
Computer Game Pioneer
Chung Ju Yung
Chairman and Founder of Hyundai Group
Steven P. Jobs
Co-founder and Chairman of Apple Computer Company
William G. McGowan
Founder of MCI Communications
Roger Milliken
Textile Industrialist
O. Wayne Rollins
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Preston Robert Tisch
Financier and Philanthropist
Gene Autry
Entertainment and Broadcasting
John W. Kluge
Broadcasting Entrepreneur
Robert A. Pritzker
Investor and Philanthropist
Thomas F. Frist, Jr., M.D.
Healthcare Industry
J. Peter Grace
Industrialist
Carl C. Icahn
Investor and Philanthropist
T. Boone Pickens, Jr.
Oil Industry Entrepreneur
Robert Edward (Ted) Turner
Founder of Cable News Network
Philip F. Anschutz
Entrepreneur and Sportsman
Robert W. Galvin
Chairman of Motorola
Edward L. Gaylord
Media Entrepreneur
Roberto C. Goizueta
Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company
Cecil H. Green
Co-founder of Texas Instruments
Mitchell D. Kapor
Computer Software Pioneer
Michael R. Milken
Financier and Philanthropist
Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi Winery
Donald W. Reynolds
Newspaper Publishing
Roy M. Huffington
Oil and Natural Gas Exploration
John H. Johnson
Founder of Ebony Magazine
William E. Simon
Business and Public Service
Robert A. Swanson
Co-founder of Genentech
Gloria Vanderbilt
Designer, Artist and Author
Henry R. Kravis
Financier and Investor
George R. Roberts
Co-founder of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts
Steven J. Ross
Founder and CEO of Time Warner Inc.
Lester Crown
Investor and Philanthropist
Ernest and Julio Gallo
Founders of E. & J. Gallo Winery
Peter E. Haas
Chairman and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.
Walter A. Haas, Jr.
Chairman and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.
Philip H. Knight
Co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc.
Ralph Lauren
Fashion Design
George Lucas
Motion Picture Production
Robert A. Mosbacher
U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Arthur Rock
Venture Capitalist
Charles Schwab
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Oprah Winfrey
Media Entrepreneur
1990s
Gordon Gund
Investor and Philanthropist
Theodore N. Lerner
Real Estate Development
Roger S. Penske
Auto Racing and Business
Edward S. (Ted) Rogers, Jr.
Telecommunications Entrepreneur
Leslie H. Wexner
Retailing and Fashion
Oscar De La Renta
Fashion Design
Donald G. Fisher
Founder of The Gap, Inc.
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
Chairman and CEO of IBM
Calvin Klein
Fashion Design
Walter H. Shorenstein
Real Estate Development
Richard Branson
Virgin Group of Companies
Barry Diller
Entertainment Entrepreneur
William H. Gates III
Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Richard E. Rainwater
Investor and Philanthropist
Sumner M. Redstone
Global Television Network
James D. Wolfensohn
Financier and Patron of the Arts
Jon M. Huntsman
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Ralph J. and Brian L. Roberts
Telecommunications
Bruce T. Halle
Retailer and Philanthropist
Donna Karan
Fashion Design
Carlos Slim Helú
Financier and Philanthropist
Martha Stewart
Multimedia Lifestyle Entrepreneur
James H. Clark, Ph.D.
Technology Entrepreneur
Tommy Hilfiger
Fashion Design
Herbert D. Kelleher
Founder of Southwest Airlines Co.
Larry J. Ellison
Founder and Chairman of Oracle Corporation
James H. Goodnight, Ph.D.
Computer Software
François Michelin
International Manufacturing
Michael S. Dell
Founder and Chairman of Dell Computer Corporation
Lee R. Raymond, Ph.D.
Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation
Frederick W. Smith
Founder and Chairman of FedEx Corporation
Eli Broad
Financier and Civil Leader
David Bonderman
Founding Partner of TPG Capital
Katharine Graham
Chairman of The Washington Post Company
Alfred Lerner
Financier and Sportsman
General Robert F. McDermott, USAF
Business and Military Service
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group
2000s
Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.
Real Estate Investments
Gustavo A. Cisneros
Media Entrepreneur
Pierre Omidyar
Founder of eBay
Lord Jacob Rothschild
Investment Banking
Jeffrey P. Bezos
Founder and Chairman of Amazon.com
Frank P. Lowy
Developer and Philanthropist
Mikhail Fridman
International Oil and Banking Entrepreneur
Leonard A. Lauder
Entrepreneur and Patron of the Arts
Maria Asunción Aramburuzabala
Mexico's Brewing Empire
Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Owner of Televisa
Michael R. Bloomberg
Founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P.
Sergey Brin
Founding CEO of Google Inc.
Carlos Ghosn
Chairman and CEO, Renault and Nissan
Alan G. Lafley
Chairman and CEO, Proctor & Gamble
Larry Page
Founding CEO of Google Inc.
Jamie Dimon
CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Bernard L. Marcus
Co-founder and Chairman of Home Depot
David M. Rubenstein
Founder and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group
Laurence D. Fink
Investment Management
John P. Morgridge
Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems
Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Rex Tillerson
Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation
Kenneth C. Griffin
Financier and Patron of the Arts
Ray Dalio
Hedge Fund Master
James W. Breyer
Silicon Valley Investor
Tony Fadell
iPod Mastermind and Founder of Nest
Reid Hoffman
CEO of LinkedIn
Featured Honorees
Sports
1960s
Rafer Johnson
Olympic Champion
Jim Murray
Pulitzer Prize for Sports Commentary
Bill Bradley
Scholar, Athlete and Legislator
Frank Ryan, Ph.D.
Football Champion and Scholar
Stan Musial
Baseball Hall of Fame
Mickey Mantle
Baseball Hall of Fame
George M. Steinbrenner III
Entrepreneur and Sportsman
1970s
Terry Bradshaw
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
Bobby Orr
Hockey Hall of Fame
Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Golf Course Architect
Bart Starr
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
John Havlicek
Champion of the Boston Celtics
Rick Barry
Captain, NBA Champions
Bob Griese
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
Willie Mays
Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles B. (Bud) Wilkinson
Football Hall of Fame
Tenley Albright, M.D.
Surgeon and Olympic Champion
Roger Staubach
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
John Wooden
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Hank Aaron
All-Time Home Run King
Howard Cosell
Sports Commentator
Gordie Howe
Hockey's Legend
Tom Landry
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Paul (Bear) Bryant
College Football Hall of Fame
1980s
Carl Hubbell
Baseball Hall of Fame
Jim Plunkett
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
Herschel Walker
Heisman Trophy Winner
Wayne Gretzky
Greatest Player in Hockey History
Dean E. Smith
Legendary Basketball Coach
Brig. Gen. Peter M. Dawkins, USA
College Football Hall of Fame
Joe Theismann
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
Franco Harris
NFL's "Player of the Decade"
Brooks Robinson
Baseball Hall of Fame
Mary Lou Retton
Gold Medal Gymnast
Muhammad Ali
Boxing Champion
Vincent (Bo) Jackson
Heisman Trophy Winner
Reinhold Messner
Greatest Mountaineer on Earth
David M. Robinson
Basketball Player of the Year
Susan Butcher
Champion Dog Sled Racer
Julius Erving
Basketball Hall of Fame
Walter Payton
Football Champion
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Basketball Scoring Champion
Bill Walsh
Pro Football Hall of Fame
1990s
Bob Feller
Baseball Hall of Fame
Lou Holtz
Collegiate Football
Michael Jordan
Greatest Player in Basketball History
Pete Rozelle
National Football League
Bonnie Blair
Olympic Champion Speed Skater
Jerry Jones
Super Bowl Championship
Mike Krzyzewski
Collegiate Basketball Champion
Tom Osborne
Collegiate Football Coach
Arnold Palmer
The King of Golf
Dorothy Hamill
U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Baseball All-Star
Grant Hill
Basketball All-Star
2000s
Sir Roger Bannister
Track and Field Legend
Yogi Berra
Baseball Hall of Fame
Andre Agassi
Tennis Champion and Philanthropist
Peyton Manning
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback
Bill Russell
Basketball Hall of Fame
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