The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Judah Folkman

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania awarded the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science to Judah Folkman for his founding of the field of angiogenesis research and demonstration that angiogenesis is a necessary factor in the conversion of abnormal cells to malignant tumors.     

The 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics presented to Nicola Cabibbo

The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia awards the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics to Nicola Cabibbo for his pioneering work in the field of elementary particle physics, with special emphasis on his role in furthering our understanding of the underlying symmetries that relate one elementary particle interaction to another.     

The 2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering presented to Bernard Widrow

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering to Bernard Widrow, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, for pioneering work in adaptive signal processing. Adaptive systems have the ability to learn and improve their behavior through interaction with their environments. Dr. Widrow developed the least mean squared (LMS) algorithm, which is a computationally facile means of finding the optimal weight vector for suppressing unknown noise. For example, every high-speed modem contains an adaptive filter or automatic equalizer based on the Widrow-Hoff LMS algorithm. Such a telephone channel equalizer makes it possible for computers to communicate at high speed (such as for the internet) over regular telephone lines, which were never intended for this purpose. Dr. Widrow was amongst the first to publish a general theory of adaptive antennas, including space-time processing. His adaptive learning algorithms made artificial neural networks possible. His latest invention is a directional hearing aid.     

The 2010 Benjamin Franklin medal in chemistry presented to Joanne Stubbe

For pioneering studies demonstrating that ribonucleotide reductases transform ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides by an astonishing free-radical mechanism and for her unprecedented achievements in the study of complex biological systems through innovative chemical and spectroscopic methods.     

The 2005 Benjamin Franklin medal in physics presented to Yoichiro Nambu

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2005 Benjamin Franklin medal in physics to Yoichiro Nambu for his seminal contributions which introduced the modern concept of broken symmetry to elementary particle physics, for his invention of the particle property called color which is the key to quark confinement, and for his ground-breaking work on the theory of string-like elementary particles.     

The 2011 Benjamin Franklin medal in engineering presented to Dean Kamen

Dean Kamen was chosen for a Benjamin Franklin Medal for his resourcefulness and imagination in creating inventions that are assisting disabled and handicapped people to improve their quality of life and health.     

The 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering presented to Roger Bacon

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, awarded the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering to Roger Bacon for his fundamental research on the production of graphite whiskers and the determination of their microstructure and properties, for his pioneering development efforts in the production of the world's first continuously processed carbon fibers and the world's first high modulus and high-strength carbon fibers, and for his contributions to the development of carbon fibers from alternative starting materials.     

The 2005 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering presented to Andrew Viterbi

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, awarded the 2005 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering to Andrew Viterbi for developing an efficient technique that has advanced the design and implementation of modern space and wireless communication systems. He also was a leader in the development of Code Division Multiple Access wireless technologies.     

The 2005 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science presented to Aravind Joshi

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2005 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science to Aravind Joshi for his fundamental contributions to natural language processing technology and to cognitive science, including particularly the development of the Tree Adjoining Grammar (TAG) family of formalisms and tractable polynomial time algorithms that analyze the complex, varied surface word orders of human languages while simultaneously recovering local elementary syntactic domains corresponding to meaning. In addition, Joshi has been a major collaborator on a new theory of discourse coherence that has influenced all subsequent work on anaphora resolution, and is currently applying TAG to address modeling problems in the life sciences.     

The 2001 Benjamin Franklin medal in chemistry presented to K. Barry Sharpless

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA awarded the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry to K. Barry Sharpless for his important innovative scientific contributions to the field of asymmetric catalytic oxidation, which resulted in highly enantioselective processes for the epoxidation, dihydroxylation and aminohydroxylation of olefins.     

The 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry Presented to Kyriacos C. Nicolaou

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awards the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry to Professor Kyriacos C. Nicolaou for his extraordinary contributions to chemistry, biology, and medicine through the advancement of the art of synthesis as exemplified by the elegant total syntheses of some of nature's most complex biologically active molecules. Nicolaou is recognized as a world leader in the field of total synthesis for his work in chemical synthesis and chemical biology. His total syntheses are legendary, distinguished for their elegance and practicality. Among his most celebrated achievements are the total syntheses of calicheamicin γ₁^I, Taxol^®, brevetoxin B, vancomycin, and thiostrepton. The impact of his work transcends total synthesis, for it often leads to the discovery and invention of new synthetic strategies and technologies as well as biological tools and drug candidates, thereby facilitating discoveries in biology and medicine. Nicolaou's influence on science and society extends beyond his research discoveries. Through his didactic lectures and writings, he motivates and inspires students into the sciences and informs the public about the importance of science and education to society.     

The 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering presented to Robert E. Newnham

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering to Robert E. Newnham for his invention of multiphase piezoelectric transducers and their spatial architecture which revolutionized the field of acoustic imaging. The background and significance of his research is presented. Attention is focused on the impact his research prompted in the field of medical imaging, in particular non-invasive, real-time visualization of internal tissue and organs of human body using ultrasound energy. Societal impact of Dr. Newnham's work is also pointed out.     

The 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry presented to Harry B. Gray

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry to Harry B. Gray for his pioneering contributions in the field of electron transfer in metalloproteins. In a series of elegant and challenging experiments beginning in the late 70s, Gray and his coworkers have shown that the transfer of electrons in metalloproteins can proceed over long distances (~ 20 Å) and at fast rates. These experiments have involved the regiospecific functionalization of structurally characterized electron transfer proteins with ruthenium complexes, coupled with laser excitation and transient spectroscopy. Probing the effects of thermodynamic driving force, temperature, donor-acceptor distance and electronic coupling, Gray has shaped our detailed current understanding of the principles governing biological electron flow. The mechanism of electron transfer has been identified as electron tunneling mediated by the molecules separating donor and acceptor. Tunneling timetables have been established for various intervening media. Important biological processes like respiration and photosynthesis depend on facile electron transfer, and Gray's contribution serves as the fundamental basis for understanding these and many related reactions.     

The 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science presented to Norman Phillips and Joseph Smagorinsky

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2003 Benjamin Franklin medal in Earth Science to Norman Phillips and Joseph Smagorinsky for their seminal and pioneering studies that led to the first successful predictions of the weather using numerical methods, and to an understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere. In addition, Smagorinsky played a leading role in establishing the current global observational network for the atmosphere, and Phillips’ leadership fostered the development of effective methods for the use of observations in data assimilation systems.