The Vannevar Bush Award honors truly exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology who have made substantial contributions to the welfare of the Nation through public service activities in science, technology, and public policy. The award was established in 1980 in the memory of Vannevar Bush, who served as a science advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, helped to establish federal funding for science and engineering as a national priority during peacetime, and was behind the creation of the National Science Foundation.
2009: Naomi Halas, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Materials Science
2014: Richard Tapia, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science
2017: Richard Baraniuk, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science
2023: Jeffrey Tabor, Bioengineering and BioSciences; Qimiao Si, Physics and Astronomy;