Rumford Prize

The award was created through the endowment of US$5,000 to the Academy by Benjamin Thompson, who held the title "Count Rumford of the United Kingdom," in 1796.

[1] Previous prizewinners include Thomas Alva Edison, for his investigations in electric lighting; Enrico Fermi, for his studies of radiation theory and nuclear energy; and Charles H. Townes, for his development of the laser.

The prize has been given to researchers outside of the United States only twice—once to John Stanley Plaskett, from British Columbia, and once to a group of Canadian scientists "for their work in the field of long-baseline interferometry.

"[4] Source: American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Past Prizes Canadian Group (Norman W. Broten, R. M. Chisholm, John A. Galt, Herbert P. Gush, Thomas H. Legg, Jack L. Locke, Charles W. McLeish, Roger S. Richards, Jui Lin Yen) NRAO–Cornell Group (Claude C. Bare, Barry G. Clark, Marshall H. Cohen, David L. Jauncey, Kenneth I. Kellermann) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Bare, Clark, Kellerman); Cornell University (Cohen, Jauncey)[6][7] Robert Mills Columbus, Ohio Martin Deutsch Vernon Willard Hughes Norman Foster Ramsey Cambridge, Massachusetts New Haven, Connecticut Cambridge, Massachusetts Frank J.

Low Gerry Neugebauer Tucson, Arizona Pasadena, California Joseph J. Katz George Feher Chicago, Illinois San Diego, California Sam Nunn William J. Perry George P. Shultz Nuclear Threat Initiative[d] Stanford University Stanford University Alfred Cho Alcatel-Lucent Bell Laboratory

Rumford Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
A watercolor portrait of a sturdy man in a black suit with a large but tidy beard.
Robert Hare , first recipient of the prize in 1839
A man leaning on a chair. His hand is to his head as if he is thinking.
Samuel Pierpont Langley , 1886 recipient
An aged man sitting in a chair. His hands are at his hips.
Thomas Alva Edison , 1895 recipient
Portrait of a man wearing glasses, a jacket and a tie.
Ernest Fox Nichols , 1904 recipient
Portrait of an old man with a white beard. The man is wearing a jacket and a tie.
James M. Crafts , 1911 recipient
A man looking to the camera, wearing a suit. He is standing in front of a machine.
Enrico Fermi , 1953 recipient
A portrait of a man looking a bit to the side wearing a suit
Hans Bethe ,1963 recipient
Gold medal awarded to the Canadian Group in 1971
1971 Rumford Prize won by the Canadian Group
An old man sitting in a chair and wearing a shirt with a tie. He is holding his glasses with both hands and is sitting in front of his desk
Bruno Rossi , 1976 recipient
An old man, wearing a pullover is smiling.
Chen Ning Yang , 1980 recipient
A man with white hair is wearing glasses and looking forward. He is sitting on a chair, in front of a desk.
John C. Mather , 1996 recipient
A man wearing glasses with a tie and a suit jacket looks to the camera and smiles
Sam Nunn , 2008 recipient
George P. Shultz , 2008 recipient