Awarded annually since 1901 by the Nobel Foundation, Stockholm.
Katalin Karikó, 1955 –
Drew Weissman, 1959 –
Physiology or Medicine, 2023
- Awarded “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”
- Karikó is an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery the Perelman School of Medicine and Weissman is the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research in the Perelman School of Medicine.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Claudia Goldin, 1946 –
Economic Sciences, 2023
- Awarded “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes.”
- Goldin was a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Economics from 1979 to 1990, serving as Associate Professor, 1979–1985; Professor, 1985–1990; Chair of Graduate Group, 1983–1984.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Gregg L. Semenza, 1956 –
Physiology or Medicine, 2019
- Awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin, Jr., and Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.”
- Penn Graduate: M.D. 1982; Ph.D. 1984
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Robert J. Shiller, 1946 –
Economic Sciences, 2013
- Awarded jointly to Robert J. Shiller, Eugene F. Fama, and Lars Peter Hansen “for their empirical analysis of asset prices.”
- Shiller was on the University of Pennsylvania faculty from 1974 until 1982.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Thomas J. Sargent, 1943 –
Economic Sciences, 2011
- Awarded jointly to Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.”
- Sargent was on the University of Pennsylvania faculty for three semesters, from January 1970 until June 1971.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Ei-ichi Negishi, 1935 – 2021
Chemistry, 2010
- Awarded jointly to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki “for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis.”
- Negishi earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, doing his dissertation work under Professor of Chemistry Allan Day.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Oliver E. Williamson, 1932 – 2020
Economics, 2009
- Awarded “for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm.”
- Wilson was a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Economics from 1965 to 1983, serving as Associate Professor, 1965–1968; Professor, 1968–1983; Charles and William L. Day Professor of Economics and Social Science, 1977–1983.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
George E. Smith, 1930 –
Physics, 2009
- Awarded for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor. Charles K. Kao was the third recipient, for his work in fiber optics.
- Penn Graduate: A.B. 1955
- After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Smith joined Bell Labs where he attained 31 patents, including one in 1969 for his work with Boyle on the CCD.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Harald zur Hausen, 1936 –
Physiology or Medicine, 2008
- Awarded for for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer. The other half of the prize was shared by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of the immunodeficiency virus.
- Assistant professor, 1968–1969, while working at the Virus Laboratories of Children’s Hospital.
- Educated at the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg and Dusseldorf, zur Hausen returned to Germany in 1969 to continue his research and teaching. From 1983 to 2003 he served as professor of medicine at the University of Heidelberg and as a chair and member of the scientific advisory board of the German Cancer Research Center.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Edmund S. Phelps, 1933 –
Economics, 2006
- Awarded for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy.
- Phelps was a professor in the Economics Department at the University of Pennsylvania from 1966 to 1971.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Edward C. Prescott, 1940 –
Economics, 2004
- With Finn E. Kydland (Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of California Santa Barbara). Awarded for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles.
- Prescott came to Penn in 1966 as a lecturer in the Economics Department. He was an assistant professor here from 1967 to 1971.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Irwin A. Rose, 1926 – 2015
Chemistry, 2004
- With Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel). Awarded for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.
- Rose joined Penn’s faculty during the 1970s. Rose was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1971 while he was Professor of Physical Biochemistry at Penn and a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Raymond Davis, Jr., 1914 – 2006
Physics, 2002
- With Masatoshi Koshiba (University of Tokyo, Japan) and Riccardo Giannoni (Associated Universities Inc.). Awarded in recognition of their groundbreaking research into the emission of neutrinos produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the center of the sun. The observation of these neutrinos demonstrated conclusively that the sun is powered by the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei.
- Davis joined Penn’s faculty in 1985 after 37 years at Brookhaven Lab. Davis has also received the 2001 National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Alan G. MacDiarmid, 1927 – 2007
Alan J. Heeger, 1936 –
Chemistry, 2000
- With Hideki Shirakawa (University of Tsukuba, Japan); Awarded “for the discovery and development of conductive polymers.”
- MacDiarmid joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1955 and was named Blanchard Professor of Chemistry in 1988. Heeger was a member of Penn’s Physics faculty from 1962 to 1982 and was Director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter from 1974 to 1980.
- Nobel Foundation information on this award.
Ahmed Zewail, 1946 –
Chemistry, 1999
- Awarded “for or his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy.”
- Penn Graduate: Ph.D. 1974; Honorary Sc.D. 1997
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
- Almanac Article
Stanley B. Prusiner, 1942 –
Medicine, 1997
- Awarded “for his discovery of Prions – a new biological principle of infection.” This new class of pathogen is now accepted as the infectious agent in “mad cow disease” and in human neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
- Penn Graduate: A.B. 1964; M.D. 1968
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
- Almanac Article
Michael Stuart Brown, 1940 –
Medicine, 1985
- and Joseph L. Goldstein; Awarded “for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism”
- Penn Graduate: A.B. 1962; M.D. 1966; Honorary: Sc.D. 1986
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Lawrence Robert Klein, 1920 – 2013
Economics, 1980
- Awarded “for the creation of econometric models and the application to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies.” These models have been designed to forecast economic trends and shape policies to deal with them.
- Professor of Economics, 1958 –
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Baruch Samuel Blumberg, 1925 – 2011
Medicine, 1976
- with D. Carleton Gajdusek; Awarded “for their discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases.”
- Professor of Medicine, 1964 – 1989; Honorary Degree: Sc.D. 1990
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
John Robert Schrieffer, 1931 – 2019
Physics, 1972 (first faculty member to win)
- with John Bardeen and Leon N. Cooper; Awarded “for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory,” where electrical resistance in certain metals vanishes above absolute zero temperature.
- Professor of Physics, 1962–1980; Honorary: Sc.D. 1973
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Gerald Maurice Edelman, 1929 – 2014
Medicine, 1972
- with Rodney R. Porter (U.K.); Awarded “for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies”
- Penn Graduate: M.D. 1954; Honorary: Sc.D. 1973
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, 1916 – 1995
Chemistry, 1972
- with Stanford Moore and William Howard Stein; Anfinsen’s award was “for his work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation”.
- Penn Graduate: M.S. 1939; Honorary: Sc.D. 1973
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Simon Smith Kuznets, 1901 – 1985
Economics, 1971
- Awarded “for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development.” This interpretation developed the concept of using a country’s gross national product to determine its economic growth.
- Assistant Professor of Economic Statistics, 1930–1934; Associate Professor, 1934–1935; Professor, 1936–1954; Honorary Degrees: Sc.D. 1956, LL.D. 1976
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Haldan Keffer Hartline, 1903 – 1983
Medicine, 1967
- with George Wald and Ragnar Granit; Awarded “for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye.”
- Research Fellow in Biophysics, 1931–1936; Assistant Professor, 1936–1942; Associate Professor, 1943–1948; Professor, 1948–1949; Honorary Degree: Sc.D. 1971
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Ragnar Granit, 1900 – 1991
Medicine, 1967
- with George Wald and Haldan K. Hartline; Awarded for work on the human eye.
- Research Fellow, 1929–1931; Honorary Degree: Sc.D. 1971
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Robert Hofstadter, 1915 – 1990
Physics, 1961
- with Rudolpf Mössbauer (Germany). Hofstadter’s award was “for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons.” Hofstadter was thus able to determine the shape and size of the atomic nucleus.
- Research Fellow, 1939–1940; Physics Instructor, 1940–1941
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Vincent du Vigneaud, 1901 – 1978
Chemistry, 1955
- Awarded “for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone.”
- Assistant in Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, 1924–1925
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
Otto F. Meyerhof, 1884 – 1951
Medicine, 1922 (awarded in 1923)
- with Archibald V. Hill (England). Meyerhoff’s award was “for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle.”
- Research Professor in Physiological Chemistry, 1940–1951
- Nobel Foundation information on this award
- Otto F. Meyerhof Papers