Fact Sheet NSF-Funded Nobel Prize Winners in Science Through 2007
October 15, 2007
The National Science Foundation (NSF) was established as an independent federal agency in 1950 "to promote the progress of science," largely by supporting fundamental (basic) research. To fulfill that mission, NSF today makes more than 10,000 new awards each year by using a time-tested process of merit review. The success of that process is reflected (though only in part) by the number of NSF-supported scientists recognized for their discoveries. NSF is particularly pleased that so many Nobel laureates have received NSF support at some point in their careers. In this way, NSF is the agent and advocate for the American people, investing public money in a more secure and productive future. The impact of these Nobelists and their NSF support extends beyond the research itself, into the network of people who support or benefit from that research. Many laureates serve as stewards of public funds by acting as reviewers of NSF proposals. Most inspire others to follow their lead, helping to create tomorrow's Nobel candidates. And all are reminders of the unpredictable benefits that can result from early investment at the frontiers of knowledge. The American public is both the sponsor and the beneficiary of all the NSF-supported Nobel laureates listed here. NSF-Funded Nobel Prize Winners Physics | Chemistry | Medicine | Economics | Total |
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| 55 | 44 | 41 | 38 | 178 |
This information is based on NSF's Awards Database, which covers awards from the 1989 to present, and older information that predates electronic records at NSF. Information is available online for prior awards only if the award has been amended since 1989. For details on these laureates and the discoveries that earned them Nobel Prizes, see http://nobelprize.org. PHYSICS 1955 – Willis E. Lamb*, Polykarp Kusch* 1957 – Chen Ning Yang* 1959 – Owen Chamberlain* 1960 – Donald A. Glaser 1961 – Robert Hofstadter* 1963 – Eugene P. Wigner* 1964 – Charles H. Townes* 1967 – Hans A. Bethe* 1969 – Murray Gell-Mann* 1972 – Leon N. Cooper, J. Robert Schrieffer 1973 – Ivar Giaever* 1975 – James Rainwater 1976 – Burton Richter 1977 – Philip W. Anderson 1978 – Robert W. Wilson 1979 – Sheldon L. Glashow, Steven Weinberg 1980 – James W. Cronin 1981 – Arthur L. Schawlow 1982 – Kenneth G. Wilson 1983 – Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, William A. Fowler 1988 – Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger 1989 – Norman F. Ramsey, Hans G. Dehmelt 1990 – Henry W. Kendall 1993 – Joseph H. Taylor Jr., Russell A. Hulse 1994 – Clifford G. Shull 1995 – Frederick Reines 1996 – David M. Lee, Douglas D. Osheroff, Robert C. Richardson 1997 – Steven Chu, William D. Phillips 1998 – Robert B. Laughlin, Horst L. Stormer, Daniel C. Tsui 2000 – Herbert Kroemer 2001 – Carl E. Wieman, Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle 2002 – Raymond Davis Jr., Riccardo Giacconi 2003 – Anthony J. Leggett 2004 – David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, Frank Wilczek 2005 – Roy J. Glauber, Theodor W. Hänsch 2006 – George F. Smoot CHEMISTRY 1951 – Glenn T. Seaborg* 1954 – Linus C. Pauling* 1960 – Willard F. Libby* 1961 – Melvin Calvin* 1965 – Robert B. Woodward* 1966 – Robert S. Mulliken* 1968 – Lars Onsager* 1972 – Christian B. Anfinsen*, Stanford Moore, William Stein 1974 – Paul J. Flory 1976 – William N. Lipscomb 1979 – Herbert C. Brown 1980 – Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert 1981 – Roald Hoffman 1983 – Henry Taube 1984 – Robert B. Merrifield* 1985 – Herbert A. Hauptman 1986 – Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee 1987 – Donald J. Cram 1989 – Sidney Altman, Thomas R. Cech 1990 – Elias J. Corey 1992 – Rudolph A. Marcus 1994 – George A. Olah 1995 – Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland 1996 – Robert F. Curl Jr., Richard E. Smalley 1997 – Paul D. Boyer 1998 – Walter Kohn, John A. Pople 1999 – Ahmed H. Zewail 2000 – Alan J. Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid 2001 – K. Barry Sharpless 2002 – John B. Fenn 2003 – Peter Agre, Roderick MacKinnon 2005 – Robert H. Grubbs, Richard R. Schrock MEDICINE 1953 – Fritz Lipmann* 1958 – George W. Beadle*, Edward L. Tatum*, Joshua Lederberg 1959 – Severo Ochoa*, Arthur Kornberg* 1961 – Georg von Békésy* 1962 – Francis C. Crick*, James D. Watson* 1964 – Konrad Bloch* 1965 – Francois Jacob, Jacques Monod 1967 – George Wald* 1968 – Robert W. Holley, H. Gobind Khorana 1969 – Max Delbrück*, Salvador E. Luria* 1971 – Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. 1972 – Gerald M. Edelman 1974 – George E. Palade* 1975 – David Baltimore*, Renato Dulbecco, Howard M. Temin 1978 – Hamilton O. Smith 1979 – Allan M. Cormack* 1981 – Roger W. Sperry, Torsten N. Wiesel 1986 – Rita Levi-Montalcini 1987 – Susumu Tonegawa 1992 – Edmond H. Fischer 1993 – Richard J. Roberts, Phillip A. Sharp 1995 – Edward B. Lewis, Eric F. Wieschaus 1997 – Stanley B. Prusiner 2000 – Paul Greengard, Eric R. Kandel 2001 – Leland H. Hartwell 2003 – Paul C. Lauterbur 2004 – Richard Axel 2007 – Mario R. Capecchi ECONOMICS 1970 – Paul A. Samuelson* 1972 – Kenneth J. Arrow* 1973 – Wassily Leontief 1975 – Tjalling C. Koopmans 1978 – Herbert A. Simon 1980 – Lawrence R. Klein 1981 – James Tobin 1982 – George J. Stigler 1983 – Gerard Debreu 1985 – Franco Modigliani 1986 – James M. Buchanan Jr. 1987 – Robert M. Solow 1992 – Gary S. Becker 1993 – Robert W. Fogel, Douglass C. North 1994 – John C. Harsanyi, John F. Nash* 1995 – Robert E. Lucas 1997 – Robert C. Merton 1998 – Amartya Sen 1999 – Robert A. Mundell 2000 – James J. Heckman, Daniel L. McFadden 2001 – George Akerlof, Michael Spence, Joseph Stiglitz 2002 – Daniel Kahneman, Vernon Smith 2003 – Robert C. Engle, Clive W. Granger 2004 - Finn E. Kydland, Edward C. Prescott 2005 – Robert J. Aumann, Thomas C. Schelling 2006 – Edmund S. Phelps 2007 – Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson * Received NSF support after receiving Nobel Prize.
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