The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the

American Association of Engineering Societies The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...

(AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of

John Fritz John F. Fritz (August 21, 1822 – February 13, 1913) was an American pioneer of iron and steel technologySandra E. Duffy (2012Fritz Lab: Not Just for Chicks from Pennsylvania State University who has been referred to as the "Father of the U.S. St ...

, who lived between 1822 and 1913. When AAES was dissolved in 2020, the administration of the Fritz medal was transferred to the

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...

(AIME), and is currently coordinated by AIME member society, the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME).

Background

The John Fritz Medal is often described as the "Nobel Prize for engineering." This prestigious award is given annually for notable scientific or industrial achievements. It is granted to living people, but also posthumous. Since its initiation in 1902, there were six years when it was not awarded. The John Fritz Medal board once consisted of sixteen representatives is four national societies in the fields of civil engineering, mining, metallurgical engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Among the most notable winners are

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of ...

, Orville Wright, Charles F. "Boss" Kettering,

Claude Shannon Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American people, American mathematician, electrical engineering, electrical engineer, and cryptography, cryptographer known as a "father of information theory". As a 21-year-o ...

Robert Noyce Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He is also credited wit ...

and

Gordon Moore Gordon Earle Moore (born January 3, 1929) is an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation. He is also the original proponent of Moore's law. As of March 2021, Moore's net worth is rep ...

Recipients

* 2021

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

* 2020 ''No award'' * 2019 ''No award'' * 2018 Anne S. Kiremidjian * 2017

Frank Kreith Frank Kreith (15 December 1922 – 8 January 2018)Obituaries
American Society of Mechanical Engin ...

* 2016 H. Vincent Poor * 2015 Jon D. Magnusson * 2014

Julia Weertman Julia Randall Weertman (February 10, 1926 – July 31, 2018) was an American materials scientist who taught at Northwestern University as the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Education She was the first female stud ...

* 2013

Gregory Stephanopoulos Greg N. Stephanopoulos (born 1950) is an American chemical engineer and the Willard Henry Dow Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked at MIT, Caltech, and the University of ...

* 2012

Leslie E. Robertson Leslie Earl Robertson (February 12, 1928 – February 11, 2021) was an American engineer. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center in New York City, and served as structural engineer on numerous ot ...

* 2011

Andrew J. Viterbi Andrew James Viterbi (born Andrea Giacomo Viterbi, March 9, 1935) is an American electrical engineer and businessman who co-founded Qualcomm Inc. and invented the Viterbi algorithm. He is the Presidential Chair Professor of Electrical Engineeri ...

* 2010 Gerald J. Posakony * 2009

Yvonne Claeys Brill Yvonne Madelaine Brill (née Claeys; December 30, 1924 – March 27, 2013) was a Canadian American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the Resistojet rocket, Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet), a f ...

* 2008

Kristina M. Johnson Kristina M. Johnson (born May 7, 1957) is an American business executive, engineer, academic, and former government official who served as the 13th chancellor of the State University of New York from September 2017 until June 2020. In June 202 ...

* 2007

Gavriel Salvendy Gavriel Salvendy (born September 30, 1938) is a pioneer in the field of human factors and ergonomics. In 1990, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for fundamental contributions to and professional leadership in huma ...

* 2006 ''No award'' * 2005 George Tamaro * 2004

John A. Swanson John A. Swanson is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Swanson is the founder of ANSYS, Inc., a John Fritz Medal winner, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is internationally regarded as an authority and ...

* 2003 Robert S. Langer * 2002

Daniel S. Goldin Daniel Saul Goldin (born July 23, 1940) served as the 9th and longest-tenured Administrator of NASA from April 1, 1992, to November 17, 2001. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and also served under Presidents Bill Clinton and Geor ...

* 2001

Paul C. W. Chu Paul Ching Wu Chu (; born February 12, 1941) is a Chinese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. He is a Professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science in the UH Physics Department, Physics Depa ...

* 2000 John W. Fisher * 1999 George H. Heilmeier * 1998

Ivan A. Getting Ivan Alexander Getting (January 18, 1912 – October 11, 2003) was an American physicist and electrical engineer, credited (along with Roger L. Easton and Bradford Parkinson) with the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS). He was ...

* 1997 Arthur E. Humphrey * 1996

George N. Hatsopoulos George Nicholas Hatsopoulos (January 7, 1927 – September 20, 2018) was a Greek American mechanical engineer noted for his work in thermodynamics and for having co-founded Thermo Electron. Early life Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 192 ...

* 1995

Lynn S. Beedle Dr. Lynn S. Beedle (December 7, 1917 – October 30, 2003) was an American structural engineer, the founder and the director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, notable also for his design and building of skyscrapers. Hoyt C. Hottel Hoyt Clarke Hottel (1903 – 18 August 1998) was a professor in the department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was an expert on energy, radiant heat transfer, fire, fuels and combustion. In 1984, ...

* 1993

Gordon E. Moore Gordon Earle Moore (born January 3, 1929) is an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation. He is also the original proponent of Moore's law. As of March 2021, Moore's net worth is report ...

* 1992 Serge Gratch * 1991

Hunter Rouse Hunter Rouse (March 29, 1906 – October 16, 1996) was a hydraulician known for his research on the mechanics of fluid turbulence. Rouse was a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, from 1929 until 1933, when he mo ...

* 1990 Gordon A. Cain * 1989

Robert N. Noyce Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He is also credited w ...

* 1988

Ralph B. Peck Ralph Brazelton Peck (June 23, 1912 – February 18, 2008) was a civil engineer specializing in soil mechanics. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1976 "for his development of the science and art of subsurface engineering, combining t ...

* 1987

Ralph Landau Ralph Landau (May 19, 1916 – April 5, 2004) was a chemical engineer and entrepreneur active in the chemical and petrochemical industries. He is considered one of the top fifty foundational chemical engineers of the first half of the 20th century ...

* 1986

Simon Ramo Simon "Si" Ramo (May 7, 1913 – June 27, 2016) was an American engineer, businessman, and author. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He ...

* 1985

Daniel C. Drucker Daniel Charles Drucker (June 3, 1918 – September 1, 2001) was American civil and mechanical engineer and academic, who served as president of the Society for Experimental Stress Analysis (now Society for Experimental Mechanics) in 1960–1961, ...

* 1984

Kenneth A. Roe Kenneth is an English language, English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and ''Cináed (disambiguation), Cináed''. The modern Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic form of ''C ...

* 1983

Claude Elwood Shannon Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as a "father of information theory". As a 21-year-old master's degree student at the Massachusetts Institu ...

* 1982

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–6 ...

* 1981

Ian MacGregor Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor, KBE (21 September 1912 – 13 April 1998) was a Scottish-American metallurgist and industrialist, most famous in the UK for his controversial tenure at the British Steel Corporation and his conduct during the 1984� ...

* 1980 T. Louis Austin, Jr. * 1979

Nathan M. Newmark Nathan Mortimore Newmark (September 22, 1910 – January 25, 1981) was an American structural engineer and academic, who is widely considered one of the founding fathers of earthquake engineering. He was awarded the National Medal of Science fo ...

* 1978 Robert G. Heitz * 1977

George R. Brown George Rufus Brown (May 12, 1898 – January 22, 1983) was a prominent Houston entrepreneur. With his brother Herman, Brown led Brown & Root Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in the world and helped to foster the political c ...

* 1976

Thomas O. Paine Thomas Otten Paine (November 9, 1921 – May 4, 1992) was an American engineer, scientist and advocate of space exploration, and was the third Administrator of NASA, serving from March 21, 1969, to September 15, 1970. During his administration ...

* 1975

Manson Benedict Manson Benedict (October 9, 1907 – September 18, 2006) was an American nuclear engineer and a professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1958 to 1968, he was the chairman of the advisory committ ...

* 1974 H. I. Romnes * 1973 Lyman Dwight Wilbur * 1972 William Webster * 1971

Patrick E. Haggerty Patrick Eugene Haggerty (March 17, 1914 – October 1, 1980) was an American engineer and businessman. He was a co-founder and former president and chairman of Texas Instruments, Incorporated (TI). Under his leadership, the company grew from a s ...

* 1970 Glenn B. Warren * 1969

Michael Lawrence Haider Michael Lawrence Haider (October 1, 1904 - August 14, 1986) was a noted American petroleum engineer, business executive, and a founder of the National Academy of Engineering. He was chairman of Exxon Corporation from 1965-1969. Life and career ...

* 1968 Igor Ivan Sikorsky * 1967 Walker L. Cisler * 1966

Warren K. Lewis Warren Kendall Lewis (21 August 1882 – 9 March 1975) was an MIT professor who has been called the father of modern chemical engineering. He co-authored an early major textbook on the subject which essentially introduced the concept of unit opera ...

* 1965

Frederick Kappel Frederick Russell Kappel (1902–1994) was an American businessman.Kenneth N. Gilpin ''The New York Times'', November 12, 1994. He served as the 9th President of Western Electric from January 1954 until September 1956. He later served as chairm ...

* 1964

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

* 1963

Hugh L. Dryden Hugh Latimer Dryden (July 2, 1898 – December 2, 1965) was an American aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958, until his death. Biography Early life and education Dryden was born in ...

* 1962

Crawford H. Greenewalt Crawford Hallock Greenewalt (August 16, 1902 – September 28, 1993) was an American chemical engineer who served as president of the DuPont Company from 1948 to 1962 and as board chairman from 1962 to 1967. Early life Crawford Hallock Greene ...

* 1961

Stephen D. Bechtel Stephen Davison Bechtel (September 24, 1900 – March 14, 1989) was the son of Clara Alice West and Warren A. Bechtel, founder of the Bechtel Corporation. He was the president of the company from 1933 to 1960. Early life Stephen Davison Bechte ...

* 1960 Gwilym A. Price * 1959 Mervin J. Kelly * 1958 John R. Suman * 1957

Ben Moreell Admiral Ben Moreell (September 14, 1892 – July 30, 1978) was the chief of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Best known to the American public as the father of the Navy's Seabees, Moreell's life spanned e ...

* 1956

Philip Sporn Philip Sporn (November 25, 1896 in Folotwin, Austria – January 23, 1978 in New York City) was an Austrian electrical engineer known for his work as the president and chief executive officer of the American Gas and Electric Company. He re ...

* 1955 Harry Alonzo Winne * 1954

William Embry Wrather William Embry Wrather (January 20, 1883 – November 28, 1963) was an American geologist. Biography He was born on a farm near Brandenburg in Meade County, Kentucky on January 20, 1883. He died in his home in Washington, DC on Thursday, Nove ...

* 1953 Benjamin F. Fairless * 1952 Ervin George Bailey * 1951

Vannevar Bush Vannevar Bush ( ; March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartime ...

* 1950 Walter H. Aldridge * 1949

Charles Metcalf Allen Charles Metcalf Allen (1871 in Walpole, Massachusetts – 1950 in Holden, Massachusetts) was a hydraulic engineer known particularly for his inventions and development of the Allen Salt-Velocity Method for measuring water discharge in situat ...

* 1948

Theodore von Karman Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

* 1947 Lewis Warrington Chubb * 1946

Zay Jeffries Zay Jeffries (April 22, 1888 – May 21, 1965) was an American mining engineer, metallurgist, consulting engineer and recipient of the 1946 John Fritz Medal.W.D. Nix.Zay Jeffries" National Academy of Sciences. 2013 Biography Jeffries was born ...

* 1945

John Lucian Savage John Lucian Savage (December 25, 1879 – December 28, 1967) was an American civil engineer. Among the 60 major dams he supervised the designs for, he is best known for the Hoover Dam, Shasta Dam, Parker Dam and Grand Coulee Dam in the United ...

* 1944

Charles F. Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...

* 1943

Willis Rodney Whitney Willis Rodney Whitney (August 22, 1868 – January 9, 1958) was an American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company. He is known as the "father of industrial research" in the United States for blending the w ...

* 1942

Everette Lee DeGolyer Everette Lee DeGolyer (October 9, 1886 – December 14, 1956), was a prominent oil company executive, petroleum exploration geophysicist and philanthropist in Dallas. He was known as "the founder of applied geophysics in the petroleum industry",C ...

* 1941

Ralph Budd Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

* 1940 Clarence Floyd Hirshfeld (posthumous) * 1939

Frank Baldwin Jewett Frank Baldwin Jewett (; September 5, 1879 – November 18, 1949) worked as an engineer for American Telegraph and Telephone where his work demonstrated transatlantic radio telephony using a vacuum-tube transmitter. He was also a physicist and ...

* 1938 Paul Dyer Merica * 1937

Arthur Newell Talbot Arthur Newell Talbot (October 21, 1857 – April 3, 1942) was an American civil engineer. He made many contributions to several engineering fields including structures, sewage management, and education. He is considered to be a pioneer in ...

* 1936

William Frederick Durand William Frederick Durand (March 5, 1859 – August 9, 1958) was a United States naval officer and pioneer mechanical engineer. He contributed significantly to the development of aircraft propellers. He was the first civilian chair of the National ...

* 1935

Frank Julian Sprague Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 in Milford, Connecticut – October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His contributions were especially i ...

(posthumous) * 1934

John Ripley Freeman John Ripley Freeman (July 27, 1855 – October 6, 1932) was an American civil and hydraulic engineer. He is known for the design of several waterworks and served as president of both the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Societ ...

(posthumous) * 1933

Daniel Cowan Jackling Daniel Cowan Jackling (August 14, 1869 – March 13, 1956), was an American mining and metallurgical engineer who pioneered the exploitation of low-grade porphyry copper ores at the Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah. Biography Early life Born near ...

* 1932 Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin * 1931

David Watson Taylor David Watson Taylor (March 4, 1864 – July 28, 1940) was a U.S. naval architect and an engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Ta ...

* 1930

Ralph Modjeski Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder." Life He was born in Bochnia, called Galicia at the time, on Janua ...

* 1929

Herbert Clark Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Grea ...

* 1928 John Joseph Carty * 1927

Elmer Ambrose Sperry Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. H ...

* 1926

Edward Dean Adams Edward Dean Adams (April 9, 1846 – May 20, 1931) was an American businessman, banker, power broker and numismatist. He was the president of Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company which built the first hydroelectric power plant ...

* 1925

John Frank Stevens John Frank Stevens (April 25, 1853 – June 2, 1943) was an American civil engineer who built the Great Northern Railway in the United States and was chief engineer on the Panama Canal between 1905 and 1907. Biography Stevens was born in ...

* 1924

Ambrose Swasey Ambrose Swasey (December 19, 1846 – June 15, 1937) was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, manager, astronomer, and philanthropist. With Worcester R. Warner he co-founded the Warner & Swasey Company. Life and work Swasey ...

* 1923

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

* 1922 Charles P. E. Schneider * 1921 Sir

Robert Hadfield Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield, 1st Baronet FRS (28 November 1858 in Sheffield – 30 September 1940 in Surrey) was an English metallurgist, noted for his 1882 discovery of manganese steel, one of the first steel alloys. He also invented silicon s ...

* 1920 Orville Wright * 1919 Gen. George W. Goethals * 1918

J. Waldo Smith Jonas Waldo Smith (March 9, 1861 – October 14, 1933) was an American civil engineer and chief engineer on the Board of Water Supply of New York from 1905 to 1922. He was awarded the 1918 John Fritz Medal. Biography Youth, education and ea ...

* 1917

Henry Marion Howe Henry Marion Howe (Boston, 2 March 1848 – Bedford Hills, New York, 14 May 1922) was an American metallurgist, the son of Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe. Education Howe attended the Boston Latin School, class of 1865, then Harvard Coll ...

* 1916

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He was born ...

* 1915 James Douglas * 1914

John Edson Sweet John Edson Sweet ( Pompey, New York, October 21, 1832 – Syracuse, New York, May 8, 1916) was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, professor, businessman and president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 1884-1885. He is ...

* 1913 ''No award'' * 1912

Robert Woolston Hunt Robert Woolston Hunt (December 9, 1838 – July 11, 1923) was an American metallurgical engineer, inventor, and superintendent in the steel industry. He is known as president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1883 and 1906; presiden ...

* 1911 Sir

William Henry White Sir William Henry White, (2 February 1845 – 27 February 1913) was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty. Biography White was born in Devonport, the son of Robert White, a currier, and his wife, Jane M ...

* 1910 Alfred Noble * 1909

Charles Talbot Porter Charles Talbot Porter (January 18, 1826 – August 28, 1910) was an American lawyer, engineer, and inventor of mechanical devices, particularly the high-speed steam engine. He was recipient of the 1909 John Fritz Medal. Born in Auburn, New York, ...

* 1908

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

* 1907

* 1906

* 1905

* 1904 ''No award'' * 1903 ''No award'' * 1902

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz Medal Engineering awards Awards established in 1902 1902 establishments in the United States

Background

Recipients

See also

References