The Franklin Institute is proud to announce the eight individuals who will be recognized for their contributions and honored with a prestigious Franklin Institute Award in 2018. The recipients join an extraordinary list of great men and women who have significantly improved our world with their pioneering discoveries and innovations.
Reflecting the spirit of discovery embodied by Benjamin Franklin, the Franklin Institute Awards have recognized and encouraged preeminent accomplishments in science and technology on an international level since the Institute was founded in 1824. Past laureates who have come to Philadelphia to receive their medals include Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, Stephen Hawking, Jacques Cousteau, and more recently Jane Goodall and Bill Gates.
The Franklin Institute Awards ceremony is the culmination of a weeklong series of events and programs designed to shine an important spotlight on advancements in science and technology, as well as extraordinary business leadership. In addition to an array of lectures and symposia throughout the week, educational programs for area high school students and public demonstrations are designed to provide direct and unprecedented access to the laureates.
The Franklin Institute celebrates science, technology and business leadership by honoring these individuals for their monumental and critical achievements each spring.
The 2018 Franklin Institute Awards Laureates
PHILIPPE HORVATH
DuPont Nutrition & Health
Dangé-Saint-Romain, France
For the foundational discovery of the role of CRISPR-Cas as a microbial system of adaptive immunity that has been developed as a powerful tool for precise editing of diverse genomes.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN CHEMISTRY
JOHN B. GOODENOUGH
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
For his development of the first practical, rechargeable lithium-ion battery cathode material, lithium cobalt oxide, which has revolutionized lightweight, portable electric power.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN COMPUTER AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE
VINTON GRAY CERF
Google Inc.
Reston, Virginia
With Robert E. Kahn, for enabling the Internet by developing TCP/IP, the set of methods that allows effective communication between millions of computer networks.
ROBERT E. KAHN
Corporation for National Research Initiatives
Reston, Virginia
With Vinton Gray Cerf, for enabling the Internet by developing TCP/IP, the set of methods that allows effective communication between millions of computer networks.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
SUSAN TRUMBORE
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Jena, Germany
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California
For her pioneering use of radiocarbon measurements in forests and soils to assess the flow of carbon between the biosphere and atmosphere, with implications for the understanding of future climate change.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
MANIJEH RAZEGHI
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
For the realization of high-power terahertz frequency sources operating at room temperature using specially designed and manufactured semiconductor lasers, which enables a new generation of imagers, chemical/biological sensors, and ultra-broadband wireless communication systems.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ADRIAN BEJAN
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
For his pioneering interdisciplinary contributions in thermodynamics and convection heat transfer that have improved the performance of engineering systems, and for constructal theory, which predicts natural design and its evolution in engineering, scientific, and social systems.
2018 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL IN PHYSICS
HELEN RHODA QUINN
Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Stanford, California
For her pioneering contributions to the long-term quest for a unified theory of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions of fundamental particles.
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