The Lemelson-MIT Prize, endowed in 1994 by Jerome Lemelson, and administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is awarded to inventors from the United States for outstanding achievement. The winner receives $500,000, making it the largest invention prize.
Past winners:
2004
- Nick Holonyak, Jr. (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Edith Flanigen (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Saul Griffith (Student Prize)
- N/A (Invention Apprentice)
2003
- Leroy Hood (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- William Murphy, Jr (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- James McLurkin (Student Prize)
- N/A (Invention Apprentice)
2002
- Dean Kamen (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Ruth R. Benerito (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Andrew Heafitz (Student Prize)
- Kavita Shukla (Invention Apprentice)
2001
- Raymond Kurzweil (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Raymond Damadian (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Brian Hubert (Student Prize)
- Jordan Sand (Invention Apprentice)
2000
- Thomas Fogarty (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Al Gross (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Amy Smith (Student Prize)
- Charles Johnson (Invention Apprentice)
- Michael Lim, Jalal Khan, and Thomas Murphy received a one-time student team prize
1999
- Carver Mead (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Stephanie Kwolek (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Daniel DiLorenzo (Student Prize)
- Krysta Morlan (Invention Apprentice)
1998
- Robert Langer (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Jacob Rabinow (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Akhil Madhani (Student Prize)
1997
- Douglas Engelbart (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Gertrude Elion (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Nathan Kane (Student Prize)
1996
- Stanley Cohen (Co-recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Herbert Boyer (Co-recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- Wilson Greatbatch (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- David Levy (Student Prize)
1995
- William Bolander (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
- William Hewlett (Co-recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award)
- David Packard (Co-recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Thomas Massie (Student Prize)