James Robinson
Economics, 2024 | Faculty
Robinson — who left a lasting impact in his years at UC Berkeley, 1999–2004 — was honored with Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson for helping us “understand differences in prosperity between nations.”
Gary Ruvkun ’73
Physiology or Medicine, 2024 | Alum
Ruvkun, a 1973 graduate with a B.A. in biophysics, shares the prize with Victor Ambros, a professor at the UMass Chan Medical School, for their discovery of microRNA and and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
David Baker Ph.D. ’89
Chemistry, 2024 | Alum
Baker, a biochemist who worked with 2013 Nobelist Randy Schekman at Berkeley, was honored in 2024 for computational protein design.
John Hopfield
Physics, 2024 | Faculty
Hopfield — who shared the physics prize with Geoffrey Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks” — was a Berkeley Physics faculty member from 1961 to 1964.
Carolyn Bertozzi Ph.D. ’93
Chemistry, 2022 | Alum
Bertozzi’s research into bioorthogonal reactions furthers the work of her co-winners, who developed the new field of “click chemistry.”
David Card
Economics, 2021 | Faculty
Card shared his prize for work that challenged orthodoxy and dramatically shifted understanding of inequality and the social and economic forces that impact low-wage workers.
David Julius Ph.D. ’84
Physiology or Medicine, 2021 | Alum
Julius shared the prize with Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.”
Reinhard Genzel
Physics, 2020 | Faculty
Jennifer Doudna
Chemistry, 2020 | Faculty
Frances Arnold Ph.D. ’85
Chemistry, 2018 | Alum
James Allison
Physiology or Medicine, 2018 | Faculty
The prize was shared with Tasuku Honjo and honored the groundbreaking work Allison conducted on cancer immunotherapy during his 20 years as director of the Berkeley’s Cancer Research Laboratory.
Barry Barish ’57, Ph.D. ’62
Physics, 2017 | Alum
Eric Betzig
Chemistry, 2014 | Faculty
Randy Schekman
Physiology or Medicine, 2013 | Faculty
David J. Wineland B.A. ’65
Physics, 2012 | Alum
Adam Guy Riess Miller Fellow ’96–99
Physics, 2011 | Alum
Berkeley professor Saul Perlmutter (a fellow Cal alum) led a team that discovered the accelerating expansion of the universe; the prize was awarded jointly to Riess and Brian Schmidt.
Thomas Sargent ’64
Economics, 2011 | Alum
Saul Perlmutter Ph.D. ’86
Physics, 2011 | Faculty
Elizabeth Blackburn
Physiology or Medicine, 2009 | Faculty
Blackburn, a Berkeley faculty member from 1978–1990, shared a Nobel for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase with Carol Greider Ph.D. ’87 and Jack Szostak.
Oliver Williamson
Economics, 2009 | Faculty
Carol Greider Ph.D. ’87
Physiology or Medicine, 2009 | Alum
Andrew Z. Fire ’78
Physiology or Medicine, 2006 | Alum
George Smoot
Physics, 2006 | Faculty
John C. Mather Ph.D. ’74
Physics, 2006 | Alum
Thomas C. Schelling ’44
Economics, 2005 | Alum
David Gross Ph.D. ’66
Physics, 2004 | Alum
Daniel Kahneman Ph.D. ’61
Economics, 2002 | Alum
George Akerlof
Economics, 2001 | Faculty
Daniel McFadden
Economics, 2000 | Faculty
Alan Heeger Ph.D. ’61
Chemistry, 2000 | Alum
Robert Laughlin ’72
Physics, 1998 | Alum
Steven Chu Ph.D. ’76
Physics, 1997 | Alum
Robert Curl Ph.D. ’57
Chemistry, 1996 | Alum
Seamus Heaney
Literature, 1995 | Faculty
The distinguished poet from Northern Ireland — honored for “for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past” — came to UC Berkeley twice on temporary appointments, the first for two semesters in 1970-1 and the second for a single term in 1976.
Mario Molina Ph.D. ’72
Chemistry, 1995 | Alum
John Harsanyi
Economics, 1994 | Faculty
Kary Mullis Ph.D. ’73
Chemistry, 1993 | Alum
This prize recognized contributions to developments of methods within DNA-based chemistry, with one half to Mullis for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, the other to Michael Smith.
Douglass North ’42, Ph.D. 1952
Economics, 1993 | Alum
Thomas Cech Ph.D. ’75
Chemistry, 1989 | Alum
Cech shared his prize with Sidney Altman for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA.
Yuan T. Lee Ph.D. ’65
Chemistry, 1986 | Faculty
Lee designed experiments that sent streams of intensely packed molecules into each other at supersonic speeds, contributing to today’s powerful lasers.
Henry Taube Ph.D. ’40
Chemistry, 1983 | Alum
Gerard Debreu
Economics, 1983 | Faculty
Lawrence Klein ’42
Economics, 1980 | Alum
Czeslow Milosz
Literature, 1980 | Faculty
Hamilton Smith ’52
Physiology or Medicine, 1978 | Alum
Luis Alvarez
Physics, 1968 | Faculty
Charles Townes
Physics, 1964 | Faculty
Melvin Calvin
Chemistry, 1961 | Faculty
Donald Glaser
Physics, 1960 | Faculty
Willard Libby ’31, Ph.D. ’33
Chemistry, 1960 | Alum
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1960 was awarded to Willard Frank Libby “for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science.”
Emilio Segrè
Physics, 1959 | Faculty
Owen Chamberlain
Physics, 1959 | Faculty
Chamberlain and Emilio Segrè discovered the anti-proton, signaling a major leap in the study of matter and antimatter.
Willis Lamb ’34, Ph.D. ’38
Physics, 1955 | Alum
Selman Waksman Ph.D. 1918
Physiology or Medicine, 1952 | Alum
Glenn Seaborg Ph.D. ’37
Chemistry, 1951 | Faculty
Edwin McMillan
Chemistry, 1951 | Faculty
William Giauque B.S. 1920, Ph.D. 1922
Chemistry, 1949 | Faculty
Wendell Stanley
Chemistry, 1946 | Faculty
John Howard Northrop
Chemistry, 1946 | Faculty
Joseph Erlanger 1895
Physiology or Medicine, 1944 | Alum
Erlanger shared his prize with Herbert S. Gasser for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers.
Ernest Lawrence
Physics, 1939 | Faculty
Harold Urey Ph.D. 1923
Chemistry, 1934 | Alum