This list of Nobel laureates affiliated with Princeton University as alumni or faculty comprehensively shows alumni (graduates and attendees) or faculty members (professors of various ranks, researchers, and visiting lecturers or professors) affiliated with Princeton University who were awarded the Nobel Prize or the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. People who have given public lectures, talks or non-curricular seminars; studied as non-degree students; received honorary degrees; or served as administrative staff at the university are excluded from the list. Summer school attendees and visitors are generally excluded from the list, since summer terms are not part of formal academic years.
The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institute, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals who make outstanding contributions in the fields of chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. They were established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which dictates that the awards should be administered by the Nobel Foundation. Another prize, the "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel" (commonly known as the Nobel Economics Prize), was established in 1968 (first awarded in 1969) by the Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, for contributors to the field of economics.
As of October 2025, 81 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Princeton University as alumni or faculty. Among the 81 laureates, 46 are Nobel laureates in natural sciences; 24 are Princeton alumni (graduates and attendees) and 32 have been Princeton faculty members; and subject-wise, 30 laureates have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, more than any other subject. In 2021, Princeton scholars and alumni received an unprecedented five Nobel Prizes.
Woodrow Wilson, the former president of Princeton University, was the first Princeton alumni to win the Nobel Prize, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. Five Nobel Prizes (same subject in the same year) were shared by Princeton laureates: James Cronin and Val Logsdon Fitch won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics; Russell Alan Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics; David Gross and Frank Wilczek won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics;; Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims won the 2011 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics;; David Card and Joshua Angrist won the 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics; and Ben Bernanke and Philip H. Dybvig won the 2022 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. John Bardeen received two Nobel Prizes in Physics, in 1956 and in 1972; since this is a list of laureates, not prizes, he is counted only once.
Summary All types of affiliations, namely alumni and faculty members, count equally in the following table and throughout the whole page.
In the following list, the number following a person's name is the year they received the prize; in particular, a number with asterisk (*) means the person received the award while they were working at Princeton University (including emeritus staff). A name underlined implies that this person has already been listed in a previous category (i.e., multiple affiliations). CategoryAlumniProfessors of various ranksResearchers or visitorsTotal: 81243235Physics (30)Jim Peebles – 2019 Kip Thorne – 2017 Frank Wilczek – 2004 Steven Weinberg – 1979 John Bardeen – 1956, 1972 Richard Feynman – 1965 Robert Hofstadter – 1961 Clinton Davisson – 1937 Arthur Compton – 1927John Hopfield – 2024* Syukuro Manabe – 2021* Jim Peebles – 2019* Duncan Haldane – 2016* Arthur B. McDonald – 2015 David Gross – 2004 Daniel Tsui – 1998* Joseph H. Taylor – 1993* Russell Hulse – 1993* James Cronin – 1980 Val Fitch – 1980* Philip W. Anderson – 1977 Eugene Wigner – 1963* Robert Hofstadter – 1961 Owen Richardson – 1928Roger Penrose – 2020 Donna Strickland – 2018 Kip Thorne – 2017 Rainer Weiss – 2017 John M. Kosterlitz – 2016 Riccardo Giacconi – 2002 Arno Penzias – 1978 John van Vleck – 1977 Eugene Wigner – 1963 Robert Hofstadter – 1961 William Shockley – 1956Chemistry (11)Frances Arnold – 2018 Richard Smalley – 1996 Edwin McMillan – 1951David MacMillan – 2021* John B. Fenn – 2002Tomas Lindahl – 2015 Osamu Shimomura – 2008 Frank Rowland – 1995 John Polanyi – 1986 Willard Libby – 1960 Arne Tiselius – 1948Physiology or Medicine (5)Mary E. Brunkow - 2025James Rothman – 2013 Eric Wieschaus – 1995*Salvador Luria – 1969 Edward C. Kendall – 1950Economics (27)David Card – 2021 Joshua Angrist – 2021 Oliver S. Hart – 2016 Lloyd Shapley – 2012 Michael Spence – 2001 James Heckman – 2000 John F. Nash – 1994 Gary Becker – 1992Ben Bernanke – 2022 Philip Dybvig – 2022 David Card – 2021 Abhijit Banerjee – 2019 Angus Deaton – 2015* Christopher Sims – 2011* Paul Krugman – 2008* Daniel Kahneman – 2002* Joseph Stiglitz – 2001 John F. Nash – 1994* W. A. Lewis – 1979*Esther Duflo – 2019 Angus Deaton – 2015 Jean Tirole – 2014 Lloyd Shapley – 2012 Thomas Sargent – 2011 Chris Pissarides – 2010 Eric Maskin – 2007 Robert Aumann – 2005 Clive Granger – 2003 Lawrence Klein – 1980 Herbert A. Simon – 1978 Tjalling Koopmans – 1975Literature (6)Eugene O'Neill – 1936Toni Morrison – 1993*Mario Vargas Llosa – 2010 Kenzaburō Ōe – 1994 Saul Bellow – 1976 Thomas Mann – 1929Peace (2)Maria Ressa – 2021 Woodrow Wilson – 1919Woodrow Wilson – 1919
Nobel laureates by category
Nobel laureates in Physics