
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.”

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.

Reinhard Genzel
Physics, 2020 | Faculty

Jennifer Doudna
Chemistry, 2020 | Faculty

Frances Arnold Ph.D. ’85
Chemistry, 2018 | Alum

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.

Saul Perlmutter Ph.D. ’86
Physics, 2011 | Faculty

Thomas Sargent ’64
Economics, 2011 | Alum

Oliver Williamson
Economics, 2009 | Faculty

Carol Greider Ph.D. ’87
Physiology or Medicine, 2009 Alum

Andrew Z. Fire ’78
Physiology or Medicine, 2006 Alum

John C. Mather Ph.D. ’74
Physics, 2006 | Alum

George Smoot
Physics, 2006 | Faculty

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

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. ’62
Chemistry, 1986 | Faculty

Gerard Debreu
Economics, 1983 | Faculty

Henry Taube Ph.D. ’40
Chemistry, 1983 | Alum

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

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.”

Donald Glaser
Physics, 1960 | 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.

Emilio Segrè
Physics, 1959 | Faculty

Willis Lamb ’34, Ph.D. ’38
Physics, 1955 | Alum

Selman Waksman Ph.D. 1918
Physiology or Medicine, 1952 Alum

Edwin McMillan
Chemistry, 1951 | Faculty

Glenn Seaborg Ph.D. ’37
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
