Walker Prize

Honoring Excellence

The Walker Prize was established in 1864 by Dr. William Johnson Walker, one of the most eminent surgeons of his era and a generous benefactor of the Boston Society of Natural History, the Museum's founding organization. This special award was established to recognize work in the field of natural history.

In the 1960s, the Walker Prize guidelines were broadened to recognize "meritorious published scientific investigation and discovery" in any scientific field. The recipient must be a noted scientist, professor, or researcher who is a superb science communicator via the written word and is well known for superlative work in her / his field. The awardee is presented with an honorarium and a seated dinner held at the Museum.

Photo © Ashley Daubenmire

Prize Winners

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2012

    Angela Belcher, PhD W.M. Keck Professor of Energy, Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2011

    Robert S. Langer, PhD David H. Koch Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2010

    John P. Holdren, PhD Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States; Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government; Professor of Environmental Science, Harvard University; Director, Woods Hole Research Center

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2008

    James J. McCarthy, PhD Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University Co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2007

    Steve Wozniak Cofounder, Apple Computer, Inc., Chief Technology Officer, Jazz Technologies, Inc

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2006

    David G. Nathan, MD Physician, Researcher, President Emeritus, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2004

    Bernard M. Gordon Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Analogic Corporation

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2003

    Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD Director of National Human Genome Research Institute

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2002

    Paul MacCready, PhD Aeronautical Engineer, Inventor

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2001

    Phillip A. Sharp, PhD MIT Institute Professor and Director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    2000

    M. Judah Folkman, MD Surgeon, Researcher, Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1999

    Howard Gardner, PhD Psychologist, Neurologist, Director of Harvard University's Project Zero

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1998

    Susan Love, MD Surgeon, Advocate for Patients with Breast Cancer

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1997

    Paul C. Sereno, PhD Paleontologist, Professor of Organismal Biology at University of Chicago

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1996

    Mario Molina, PhD Nobel Prize Winner, Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at MIT

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1995

    Robert Allen Weinberg, PhD Professor of Biochemistry at MIT, Whitehead Institute

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1994

    Dudley R. Herschbach, PhD Nobel Prize Winner, Baird Professor of Science at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1993

    Philip Morrison, PhD Institute Professor Emeritus of Physics at MIT

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1993

    Phylis Morrison Teacher, Author

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1983

    Edward Mills Purcell, PhD Nobel Prize Winner, Gerhard Gade University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1981

    Gordon R. Willey, PhD Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1978

    Sherwood L. Washburn, PhD Professor, Department of Anthropology at University of California, Berkeley

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1976

    Richard M. Eakin, PhD Department of Zoology at University of California, Berkeley

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1973

    Alfred C. Redfield, PhD Natural History Scholar

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1971

    Ernst Mayer, PhD Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1970

    Irven DeVore, PhD Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1969

    Robert K. Selander, PhD Ornithologist and Professor of Zoology at University of Texas

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1968

    Howard Ensign Evans, PhD Curator of Insects, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University

  • Walker Prize Recipients

    1967

    Martin H. Moynihan, PhD Director, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama Canal Zone