The long, distinguished history of The Franklin Institute Awards Program dates back to 1824 when the Institute was founded by a group of leading Philadelphians to train artisans and mechanics in the fundamentals of science. Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, was a burgeoning manufacturing center. In 1824, the Institute arranged the first of a series of annual exhibitions of manufactured goods. With these exhibitions came the presentation of awards—first certificates, and later endowed medals—for achievements in science and invention. The first written record of the Awards is in Volume 1, Number 1 of the Journal of The Franklin Institute published in January 1826. Today, the institute's awards program recognizes excellence in science and technology.
1996: Richard E. Smalley, Chemistry
2005: Peter R. Vail, Earth Sciences