The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts." It is the oldest medal in this field of engineering.El-Sharkawi, Mohamed A, "Electric Energy- An Introduction." CRC Press, 2005. . Page 8. The award consists of a gold medal, bronze replica, certificate, and honorarium. The medal may only be awarded to a new leap/breakthrough in the technological area of science.

Background The Edison Medal, named after the inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison, was created on 11 February 1904 by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson. Other recipients of the Edison Medal include George Westinghouse, Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla, Michael I. Pupin, Robert A. Millikan (Nobel Prize 1923), and Vannevar Bush. A complete and authoritative list is published by the IEEE online.List of recipients of the IEEE Edison Medal

After the merger of AIEE and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), in 1963, to form the IEEE, it was decided that IRE's Medal of Honor would be presented as IEEE's highest award, while the Edison Medal would become IEEE's principal medal.

Twelve persons with an exceptional career in electrical engineering received both the IEEE Edison Medal and the IEEE Medal of Honor, namely Edwin Howard Armstrong, Ernst Alexanderson, Mihajlo Pupin, Arthur E. Kennelly, Vladimir K. Zworykin, John R. Pierce, Sidney Darlington, James L. Flanagan, Nick Holonyak, Robert H. Dennard, Dave Forney, and Kees Schouhamer Immink.

Recipients The following people have received the IEEE Edison Medal:

1909: Elihu Thomson 1910: Frank J. Sprague 1911: George Westinghouse 1912: William Stanley, Jr. 1913: Charles F. Brush 1914: Alexander Graham Bell 1915: No Award 1916: Nikola Tesla 1917: John J. Carty 1918: Benjamin G. Lamme 1919: William Le Roy Emmet 1920: Mihajlo I. Pupin 1921: Cummings C. Chesney 1922: Robert A. Millikan 1923: John W. Lieb 1924: John White Howell 1925: Harris J. Ryan 1926: No Award 1927: William D. Coolidge 1928: Frank B. Jewett 1929: Charles F. Scott 1930: Frank Conrad 1931: Edwin W. Rice 1932: Bancroft Gherardi, Jr. 1933: Arthur E. Kennelly 1934: Willis R. Whitney 1935: Lewis B. Stillwell 1936: Alex Dow 1937: Gano Dunn 1938: Dugald C. Jackson 1939: Philip Torchio 1940: George Ashley Campbell 1941: John B. Whitehead 1942: Edwin H. Armstrong 1943: Vannevar Bush 1944: Ernst Alexanderson 1945: Philip Sporn 1946: Lee De Forest 1947: Joseph Slepian 1948: Morris E. Leeds 1949: Karl B. McEachron 1950: Otto B. Blackwell 1951: Charles F. Wagner 1952: Vladimir K. Zworykin 1953: John F. Peters 1954: Oliver E. Buckley 1955: Leonid A. Umansky 1956: Comfort A. Adams 1957: John K. Hodnette 1958: Charles F. Kettering 1959: James F. Fairman 1960: Harold S. Osborne 1961: William B. Kouwenhoven 1962: Alexander C. Monteith 1963: John R. Pierce 1964: No Award 1965: Walker Lee Cisler 1966: Wilmer L. Barrow 1967: George Harold Brown 1968: Charles F. Avila 1969: Hendrik Wade Bode 1970: Howard H. Aiken 1971: John Wistar Simpson 1972: William Hayward Pickering 1973: Bernard D. H. Tellegen 1974: Jan A. Rajchman 1975: Sidney Darlington 1976: Murray Joslin 1977: Henri G. Busignies 1978: Daniel E. Noble 1979: Albert Rose 1980: Robert Adler 1981: C. Chapin Cutler 1982: Nathan Cohn 1983: Herman P. Schwan 1984: Eugene I. Gordon 1985: John D. Kraus 1986: James L. Flanagan 1987: Robert A. Henle 1988: James Ross MacDonald 1989: Nick Holonyak, Jr. 1990: Archie W. Straiton 1991: John L. Moll 1992: George D. Forney 1993: James H. Pomerene 1994: Leslie A. Geddes 1995: Robert W. Lucky 1996: Floyd Dunn 1997: Esther M. Conwell 1998: Rolf Landauer 1999: Kees Schouhamer Immink 2000: Jun-ichi Nishizawa 2001: Robert H. Dennard 2002: Edward E. Hammer 2003: No Award 2004: Federico Capasso 2005: Peter Lawrenson 2006: Fawwaz T. Ulaby 2007: Russell Dupuis 2008: Dov Frohman-Bentchkowsky 2009: Tingye Li 2010: Ray Dolby 2011: Isamu Akasaki 2012: Michael Francis Tompsett 2013: 2014: Ralph Baer 2015: James Spilker 2016: Robert W. Brodersen 2017: M. George Craford 2018: Eli Yablonovitch 2019: Ursula Keller 2020: Frede Blaabjerg 2021: 2022: Alan Bovik 2023: Hiroyuki Matsunami 2024: Vincent W. S. Chan 2025: Daniela Rus 2026: Eric A. Swanson

See also List of engineering awards List of physics awards List of prizes named after people

References

External links

IEEE Edison Medal page at IEEE Complete List of Edison Medal Recipients IEEE Edison Medal Nomination Form New York Times on the Edison Medal IEEE Edison Medal page at IEEE Global History Network