The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology. The award may be granted to a specific person, to a group of people or to an entire organization or corporation. It is the highest honor the United States can confer to a U.S. citizen for achievements related to technological progress.
History
The National Medal of Technology was created in 1980 by the United States Congress under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act. It was a bipartisan effort to foster technological innovation and the technological competitiveness of the United States in the international arena. The first National Medals of Technology were issued in 1985 by then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan to 12 individuals and one company. Among the first recipients were Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, founders of Apple Computer. The medal has been awarded annually until 2015.
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| 1995
| Praveen Chaudhari, Jerome J. Cuomo, and Richard J. Gambino
| "For the discovery and development of a new class of materials-the amorphous magnetic materials-that are the basis of erasable, read-write, optical storage technology, now the foundation of the worldwide magnetic-optic disk industry."
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| 2003
| Jan D. Achenbach
| "For his seminal contributions to engineering research and education and for pioneering ultrasonic methods for the detection of cracks and corrosion in aircraft, leading to improved safety for aircraft structures."
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| 2003
| Watts Humphrey
| "For his vision of a discipline for software engineering, for his work toward meeting that vision, and for the resultant impact on the U.S. Government, industry, and academic communities."
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| 2003
| Robert Metcalfe
| "For leadership in the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet."
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| 2003
| Rodney Bagley, Irwin Lachman, Ronald M. Lewis
| "For their pioneering work resulting in the design and manufacture of the cellular ceramic substrate for catalytic converters that enabled auto manufacturers to develop the first commercially mass-produced automotive catalytic converter."
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| 2003
| UOP
| "For more than 85 years of sustained technical leadership and innovation for the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries; and for the invention and commercialization of adsorbents, catalysts, process plants, and process technology."
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| 2003
| Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)
| "For more than 75 years of support of the cycle of innovation, from research to invention to investment, by supporting faculty and student research at the University of Wisconsin and pioneering the transfer of university ideas to U.S. businesses."
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| 2004
| Ralph Baer
| "For inventing the first video game console."
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| 2004
| Roger Easton, Sr.
| "For his extensive pioneering achievements in spacecraft tracking, navigation and timing technology that led to the development of the NAVSTAR-Global Positioning System (GPS)."
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| 2004
| Gen-Probe Incorporated
| "For the development and commercialization of new blood- testing technologies and systems for the direct detection of viral infections, including direct identification of West Nile Virus and simultaneous identification of HIV-1 and Hepatitis C virus in plasma of human blood and organ donors prior to transfusion."
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| 2004
| IBM Microelectronics Division
| "For four decades of innovation in semiconductor technology that has enabled explosive growth in both the information technology and consumer electronics industries through the development and fabrication of smaller, more powerful microelectronic devices."
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| 2004
| Industrial Light & Magic
| "For 30 years of innovation in visual effects technology for the motion picture industry."
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| 2004
| Motorola
| "For over 75 years of achievement and leadership in mobile communications, and for the development of innovative technologies that allow people to seamlessly connect with their world."
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| 2004
| PACCAR
| "For pioneering efforts and industry leadership in the development and commercialization of aerodynamic, lightweight trucks that have dramatically reduced fuel consumption and increased the productivity of U.S. freight transportation."
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| 2005
| Ronald J. Eby, Maya Koster, Dace Viceps Madore and Velupillai Puvanesarajah
| "For their work in the discovery, development and commercialization of Prevnar, the first-ever vaccine to prevent the deadly and disabling consequences of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in children."
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| 2005
| Dean L. Sicking
| "For his innovative design and development of roadside and race track safety technologies that safely dissipate the energy of high-speed crashes, helping prevent fatalities and injuries."
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| 2005
| Alfred Y. Cho
| "For his contributions to the invention of the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology and the development of the MBE technology into an advanced electronic and photonic devices production tool, with applications to cellular phones, CD players, and high-speed communications."
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| 2005
| Genzyme Incorporated
| "For pioneering dramatic improvements in the health of thousands of patients with rare diseases and harnessing the promise of biotechnology to develop innovative new therapies."
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| 2005
| Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)
| "For building the world's largest and most successful university research force to support the rapid growth and advance of the semiconductor industry."
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| 2005
| Xerox Corporation
| "For over 50 years of innovation in marking, materials, electronics, communications, and software that created the modern reprographics, digital printing, and print-on-demand industries."
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| 2006
| Leslie A. Geddes
| "For his contributions to electrode design and tissue restoration, which have led to the widespread use of a wide variety of clinical devices. His discoveries and inventions have saved and enriched thousands of lives and have formed the cornerstone of much of the modern implantable medical device field."
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| 2006
| Paul G. Kaminski
| "For his contributions to national security through the development of advanced, unconventional imaging from space, and for developing and fielding advanced systems with greatly enhanced survivability. He has made a profound difference in the national security posture and the global leadership of the United States."
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| 2006
| Herwig Kogelnik
| "For his pioneering contributions and leadership in the development of the technology of lasers, optoelectronics, integrated optics, and lightwave communication systems that have been instrumental in driving the growth of fiber optic transmission systems for our Nation's communications infrastructure."
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| 2006
| Charles M. Vest
| "For his visionary leadership in advancing America's technological workforce and capacity for innovation through revitalizing the national partnership among academia, government, and industry."
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| 2006
| James West
| "For co-inventing the electret microphone in 1962. Ninety percent of the two billion microphones produced annually and used in everyday items such as telephones, hearing aids, camcorders, and multimedia computers employ electret technology."
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| 2007
| Paul Baran
| "For the invention and development of the fundamental architecture for packet switched communication networks which provided a paradigm shift from the circuit switched communication networks of the past and later was used to build the ARPANET and the Internet."
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| 2007
| Roscoe O. Brady
| "For the discovery of the enzymatic defects in hereditary metabolic disorders such as Gaucher disease, Niemann–Pick disease, Fabry disease and Tay–Sachs disease, devising widely used genetic counseling procedures and development of highly effective enzyme replacement therapy that provided the foundation for patient treatment; and for stimulating the creation of and fostering the success of many biotechnology companies that now produce the therapeutics for the treatment of these diseases."
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| 2007
| David N. Cutler
| "For having envisioned, designed and implemented world standards for real-time, personal and server-based operating systems for over 30 years, carrying these projects from conception through design, engineering and production for Digital Equipment Corporation’s RSX-11 and VAX/VMS and for Microsoft's Windows NT-based computer operating systems, and for his fundamental contributions to computer architecture, compilers, operating systems and software engineering."
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| 2007
| Armand V. Feigenbaum
| "For leadership in the development of the economic relationship of quality costs, productivity improvement, and profitability and for his pioneering application of economics, general systems theory and technology, statistical methods and management principles that define the Total Quality Management approach for achieving performance excellence and global competitiveness. "
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| 2007
| Adam Heller
| "For fundamental contributions to electrochemistry and bioelectrochemistry and the subsequent application of those fundamentals in the development of technological products that improved the quality of life of millions across the globe, most notably in the area of human health and well-being."
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| 2007
| Carlton Grant Willson
| "For creation of novel lithographic imaging materials and techniques that have enabled the manufacturing of smaller, faster and more efficient microelectronic components that better the quality of the lives of people worldwide and improve the competitiveness of the U.S. microelectronics industry."
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| 2007
| eBay Inc.
| "For pioneering the technology that encouraged and supported online trade, enabling global entrepreneurship and the growth of the Internet worldwide."
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| 2007
| Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
| "For an exceptional 65-year record of developing cutting-edge aircraft, technologies, and systems solutions for the U.S. Government, including development of unique advanced aircraft technologies critical to the national defense; and for the introduction of operational “stealth” capability that has changed the landscape of U.S. war fighting capabilities."
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| 2008
| Forrest M. Bird
| "For his pioneering inventions in cardiopulmonary medicine, including the medical respirator; devices that helped launch modern-day medical evacuation capabilities; and intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV) technologies, which have saved the lives of millions of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other conditions."
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| 2008
| Esther Sans Takeuchi
| "For her seminal development of the silver vanadium oxide battery that powers the majority of the world's lifesaving implantable cardiac defibrillators, and her innovations in other medical battery technologies that improve the health and quality of life of millions of people."
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| 2008
| John Warnock and Charles Geschke
| "For their pioneering contributions that spurred the desktop publishing revolution and for changing the way people create and engage with information and entertainment across multiple mediums including print, Web and video."
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| 2009
| Harry W. Coover
| "for his invention of cyanoacrylates, a new class of adhesives that have influenced medicine and industry, and are known widely to consumers as "super" glues."
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| 2009
| Helen M. Free
| "for her seminal contributions to diagnostic chemistry, primarily through dip-and-read urinalysis tests, that first enabled diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels on their own."
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| 2009
| Steven J. Sasson
| "for the invention of the digital camera, which has revolutionized the way images are captured, stored and shared, thereby creating new opportunities for commerce, for education and for improved worldwide communication."
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| 2009
| Federico Faggin, Marcian E. Hoff Jr., Stanley Mazor
| "for the conception, design, development and application of the first microcomputer, a universal building block that enabled a multitude of novel digital electronic systems."
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| 2009
| IBM
| "For the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer and its systems architecture, design, and software, which have delivered fundamental new science, unsurpassed speed, and unparalleled energy efficiency and have had a profound impact worldwide on the high-performance computing industry."
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| 2010
| Rakesh Agrawal
| "for an extraordinary record of innovations in improving the energy efficiency and reducing the cost of gas liquefaction and separation. These innovations have had significant positive impacts on electronic device manufacturing, liquefied gas production, and the supply of industrial gases for diverse industries."
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| 2010
| B. Jayant Baliga
| "for development and commercialization of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor and other power semiconductor devices that are extensively used in transportation, lighting, medicine, defense, and renewable energy generation systems."
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| 2010
| C. Donald Bateman
| "for developing and championing critical flight-safety sensors now used by aircraft worldwide, including ground proximity warning systems and wind-shear detection systems."
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| 2010
| Yvonne C. Brill
| "for innovation in rocket propulsion systems for geosynchronous and low earth orbit communication satellites, which greatly improved the effectiveness of space propulsion systems."
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| 2010
| Michael F. Tompsett
| "for pioneering work in materials and electronic technologies including the design and development of the first charge-coupled device (CCD) imagers."
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| 2011
| Jan Vilcek
| "For pioneering work on interferons and key contributions to the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies."
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| 2011
| Frances H. Arnold
| "For pioneering research on biofuels and chemicals that could lead to the replacement of pollution-generating materials."
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| 2011
| George Carruthers
| "For invention of the Far UV Electrographic Camera, which significantly improved our understanding of space and earth science."
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| 2011
| Robert Langer
| "For inventions and discoveries that led to the development of controlled drug release systems, engineered tissues, angiogenesis inhibitors, and new biomaterials."
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| 2011
| Norman McCombs
| "For the development and commercialization of pressure swing adsorption oxygen-supply systems with a wide range of medical and industrial applications that have led to improved health and substantially reduced health care costs."
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| 2011
| Gholam A. Peyman
| "For invention of the LASIK surgical technique, and for developing the field of intraocular drug administration and expanding the field of retinal surgery."
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| 2011
| Arthur H. Rosenfeld
| "For extraordinary leadership in the development of energy-efficient building technologies and related standards and policies."
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| 2011
| Samuel Blum, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, James J. Wynne
| "For the pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecomposition of human and animal tissue, laying the foundation for PRK and LASIK, laser refractive surgical techniques that have revolutionized vision enhancement."
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| 2012
| Charles W. Bachman
| "For fundamental inventions in database management, transaction processing, and software engineering."
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| 2012
| Edith M. Flanigen
| "For innovations in the fields of silicate chemistry, the chemistry of zeolites, and molecular sieve materials."
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| 2012
| Thomas Fogarty
| "For innovations in minimally invasive medical devices."
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| 2012
| Eli Harari
| "For invention and commercialization of Flash storage technology to enable ubiquitous data in consumer electronics, mobile computing, and enterprise storage."
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| 2012
| Arthur D. Levinson
| "For pioneering contributions to the fields of biotechnology and personalized medicine, leading to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases."
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| 2012
| Cherry A. Murray
| "For contributions to the advancement of devices for telecommunications, the use of light for studying matter, and for leadership in the development of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce in the United States."
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| 2012
| Mary Shaw
| "For pioneering leadership in the development of innovative curricula in Computer Science."
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| 2012
| Douglas Lowy, John T. Schiller
| "For developing the virus-like particles and related technologies that led to the generation of effective vaccines that specifically targeted HPV and related cancers."
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| 2013
| Joseph DeSimone
|"For pioneering innovations in material science that led to the development of technologies in diverse fields from manufacturing to medicine; and for innovative and inclusive leadership in higher education and entrepreneurship."
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| 2013
| Robert Fischell
| "For invention of novel medical devices used in the treatment of many illnesses thereby improving the health and saving the lives of millions of patients around the world."
|"For laying the foundation of modern plant biotechnology. Her breakthrough success developing the first genetically modified plant has led to the engineering of crops that can withstand insects, disease, extreme weather, and climate change, transforming agriculture, protecting the planet, and improving the health of people around the world."
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|2023
|John M. Cioffi
|"For his work in advancing in personal wireless communications and for making the first cellular telephone call. Cooper, known as the “father of the cell phone.”
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|2025
|Jennifer A. Doudna
|"For pioneering of CRISPR gene editing."
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|2025
|Eric Fossum
|"For invention of the CMOS active pixel image sensor used in cell-phone cameras, webcams, and medical imaging."
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|2025
|Paula T. Hammond
|"For developing methods for assembling thin films that can be used for drug delivery, wound healing, and other applications."
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|2025
|Kristina M. Johnson
|"For research in photonics, nanotechnology, and optoelectronics. Her discoveries have contributed to sustainable energy solutions and advanced manufacturing technologies."
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|2025
|Victor B. Lawrence
|"For working on new developments in multiple forms of communications."
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|2025
|David R. Walt
|"For co-inventing the DNA microarray, enabling large-scale genetic analysis and better personalized medicine."
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|2025
|Paul G. Yock
|"For inventing, developing and testing new cardiovascular intervention devices, including the stent."
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|2025
|Feng Zhang
|"For his work developing molecular tools, including the CRISPR genome-editing system."
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See also
- :Category:National Medal of Technology recipients
- List of general science and technology awards
- National Humanities Medal
- National Medal of Arts
- National Medal of Science
References
External links
- National Medal of Technology and Innovation official page
- National Science & Technology Medals Foundation
- List of all medal recipients