John Scott Award, created in 1816 as the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, is presented to people whose inventions are deemed to have improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way. "...the John Scott Medal Fund, established in 1816...". Since 1919 the Board of Directors of City Trusts of Philadelphia provide this award, recommended by an advisory committee. Eugene Garfield is member of the Advisory Committee.
History In 1822 the first awards were given to thirteen people by the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture entrusted by the "Corporation of the city of Philadelphia".
The druggist John Scott of Edinburgh organized a $4,000 fund which, after his death in 1815 was administered by a merchant until the first award, a copper medal and "an amount not to exceed twenty dollars", was given in 1822. (At the time, $20 could buy one ox or a 12-volume encyclopedia.) Several hundred recipients have since been selected by the City Council of Philadelphia, which decides from the annual list of nominees made by the Franklin Institute.
Notable recipients Most awards have been given for inventions in science and medicine. Notable recipients include:
Luis W. Alvarez Frederick G. Banting John Bardeen James Black William T. Bovie Ralph L. Brinster Marie Curie William Duane Thomas Edison Alexander Fleming Peter Koch Irving Langmuir Edwin Land Christian J. Lambertsen Luther D. Lovekin Benoît Mandelbrot Guglielmo Marconi Edgar Sharp McFadden Humberto Fernandez Moran Kary B. Mullis Jonas Salk Glenn Seaborg Richard E. Smalley Nikola Tesla Wright brothers Robert Burns Woodward David Gestetner
Recent winners Year Winner Area of Innovation2024R. Vijay Kumarcooperative and multi-agent roboticsTakeo Kanadecomputer vision and roboticsDaniela Rusdistributed, networked autonomous robotic systems2023Michael E. Mannscientific understanding of historic climate changeRobert H. Socolowpioneering new concepts and creating new fields in energy and the environment2022 Gary Beauchamptranslational research on taste, smell, and flavorNancy Boniniuse of Drosophila to gain insight into degenerative diseases of the brainBarry Arkles Silicon-based science for medical devices and polymeric materials2021 Katalin Karikostable mRNA enabling gene-induced immune responseDrew WeissmanmRNA approach to enable-induced response within the human body2020 Jean BennettGene therapies for curing retinal degenerationWilliam DeGradodevelopment of antimicrobial peptidesMichael Klein algorithms for computational simulation of biological systems 2019 Emily A. Carter reverse combustion Charles L. Kane topological insulators Eugene Mele topological insulators 2018 James West foil electret microphone Bjarne Stroustrup c++ computer programming language 2017 Ruzena Bajcsy robotics and engineering science Warren Ewens population genetics research Masatoshi Nei evolutionary theory 2016 Emmanuelle Charpentier CRISPR-Cas genome editing Jennifer Doudna Feng Zhang Carl H. June cancer immunology 2015 Madeleine M. Joullié synthetic chemistry John P. Perdew density functional theory 2014 Susan Band Horwitz cancer therapeutics Leonard Hayflick discovery of cellular senescenceand innovations in microscopy Paul S. Moorhead 2013 P. Leslie Dutton redox reactions in biochemistry N. Scott Adzick fetal surgery Robert L. Brent environmental causes of birth defects 2012 Paul J. Steinhardt quasicrystals John Q. Trojanowski neurodegenerative diseases Virginia Man-Yee Lee 2011 David E. Kuhl PET scans Jenny Pickworth Glusker crystallography 2010 Christian J. Lambertsen underwater diving equipment William A. Eaton protein aggregation and folding
See also Carl Roman Abt, A past recipient (1889)
References
External links The award webpage The Franklin Institute: The John Scott Legacy Medal Medals awarded by The Franklin Institute between 1822 and 2017.