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NAE Awards
The National Academy of Engineering salutes leaders in engineering for their lifetime dedication to their field and their commitment to advancing the human condition through great engineering achievement and/or through innovation in engineering and technology education. The NAE dedicates more than $1 million annually to recognize these leaders and to bring better understanding of the importance of engineering and engineering education to society.

  • Currently, the NAE presents seven awards for engineering achievement and innovation - the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, the Simon Ramo Founders Award, the Arthur M. Bueche Award, the Gibbs Brothers Medal, and the J. C. Hunsaker Award in Aeronautical Engineering.

  • The NAE call for nominations for the 2024-2025 awards and prizes will begin on January 1, 2024.

    To sign up for the NAE awards mailing list, please go to  www.naeawardsonline.com. 

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Awards at a Glance
Awards Recipients
  • Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering
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  • Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize
    2023 Recipient
    Dr. David R. Walt
    Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically-Inspired Engineering
    Harvard Medical School
    Dr. David R. Walt
    Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically-Inspired Engineering
    Harvard Medical School
    For the development of microwell arrays that greatly advanced the fields of genomics and proteomics.
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  • Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education
    2023 Recipient
    Dr. Azad M. Madni
    University Professor and holder of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering
    University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering
    Dr. Azad M. Madni
    University Professor and holder of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering
    University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering
    For creating and disseminating a transdisciplinary systems engineering education paradigm based on leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, convergence, social awareness, and diverse thinking and backgrounds.
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  • Simon Ramo Founders Award
    2023 Recipient
    Dr. Robert W. Conn
    Walter J. Zable Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Dean, Emeritus
    Jacobs School, University of California, San Diego
    Dr. Robert W. Conn
    Walter J. Zable Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Dean, Emeritus
    Jacobs School, University of California, San Diego
    For shaping national science and technology policy through leadership in academia, business, and philanthropy and for seminal contributions to fusion engineering.
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  • Arthur M. Bueche Award
    2023 Recipient
    Dr. David L. Tennenhouse
    Senior Advisor
    National Science Foundation
    Dr. David L. Tennenhouse
    Senior Advisor
    National Science Foundation
    For the conception, implementation, and stewardship of information technology R&D involving unique partnerships among academia, industry, and government.
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  • NAE Distinguished Honoree Program
    2016 Recipient
    Ralph J. Cicerone
    President
    National Academy of Sciences
    Ralph J. Cicerone
    President
    National Academy of Sciences
    Outstanding achievements, his meritorious service to the National Academy of Engineering and his advancement of the sciences, education, and the national welfare
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  • Gibbs Brothers Medal
    2022 Recipient
    Admiral Frank L. Bowman
    (U.S. Navy, Retired), President
    Strategic Decisions, LLC
    Admiral Frank L. Bowman
    (U.S. Navy, Retired), President
    Strategic Decisions, LLC
    For lifelong marine engineering innovation of nuclear-powered warships and leadership in Navy and commercial maritime safety culture.
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  • J. C. Hunsaker Award in Aeronautical Engineering
    2020 Recipient
    Alan C. Brown
    Director of Engineering (Retired)
    Lockheed Corporation
    Alan C. Brown
    Director of Engineering (Retired)
    Lockheed Corporation
    For innovative contributions to the design of commercial and military aircraft, and particularly leadership of the team that developed the F-117 Stealth Fighter.
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NAE Call for Nominations

For more than three decades the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has been recognizing outstanding engineers for their dedication to their discipline, as well as for their development (or shared involvement) of an engineering invention or process that has greatly improved humanity.

The NAE salutes leaders in engineering for their lifetime dedication to their field and their commitment to advancing the human condition through great engineering achievement. The NAE awards more than $1 million to recognize these leaders and to bring better understanding of the importance of engineering to society.

The NAE currently presents seven awards for engineering achievement - the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, the Simon Ramo Founders Award, the Arthur M. Bueche Award, the Gibbs Brothers Medal, and the J. C. Hunsaker Award in Aeronautical Engineering.

Note to all NAE Awards Nominators: Nominators of the chosen recipients for the Ramo Founders award, the Bueche award, the Gibbs Brothers Medal, the J. C. Hunsaker Award in Aeronautical Engineering, and the Draper, Russ, and Gordon Prizes personally receive notice from the NAE Awards office that their nominee(s) have been chosen to receive one of our NAE Awards. All recipients and their nominators for the Ramo Founders award, Bueche award, the Gibbs Brothers Medal, and the J. C. Hunsaker Award in Aeronautical Engineering are notified by the end of June each year, and all recipients and their nominators for the Draper, Russ, and Gordon Prizes are notified by the end of October each year. Nominators will be contacted in January regarding the status of their nomination.

The NAE call for nominations for the 2024-2025 awards and prizes will begin on January 1, 2024.​ To sign up for the NAE awards mailing list, please go to www.naeawardsonline.com.

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please contact Deborah Young, Awards Program Officer at dyoung@nae.edu. Thank you.

Giving to the NAE Arthur M. Bueche Award

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Director of Outreach and Communications
Eileen Erickson
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
E-mail: eerickson@nae.edu


The NAE is dedicated to raising public awareness about engineering achievements and our awards.

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