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The John Fritz Medal

The John Fritz Medal was established in 1902 in honor of John Fritz, famed iron and steel manufacturer, and is awarded annually by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for important achievements in science or industry. The medal "is the highest award in the engineering profession," according to the AAES.
    The Fritz Medal rotates among the five leading international engineering societies that make up the AAES, so that each discipline has one winner every five years. Those societies are the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The following is a list of the winners who are members and a short description of their contributions:

Year Award Recipient Description
2014 Julia R. Weertman, Illinois Gamma '46 exceptional contributions to our understanding of failure in materials and for inspiring generations of young women to pursue careers in the science and engineering disciplines
2009 Yvonne C. Brill, South Carolina Gamma '45 rocket propulsion systems (electrothermal hydrazine thruster)
2008 Kristina M. Johnson, North Carolina Gamma '81 director, Minerals Technologies Inc., provost, John Hopkins Univ.
2005 George Tamaro, New York Xi '59 stabilizing the foundation of the World Trade Center
2004 John A. Swanson, New York Delta '62 founder and CEO, ANSYS Inc.
2003 Robert S. Langer, New York Delta '70 biotechnology, MIT research laboratory
2000 John W. Fisher, Missouri Gamma '56 founder of ATLSS Research Center
1999 George H. Heilmeier, Pennsylvania Delta '58 president and CEO, Bell Communications Research, Inc.
1997 Arthur E. Humphrey, Idaho Alpha '48 dean of Penn School of Engineering
1995 Lynn S. Beedle, California Alpha '41 structural engineer of skyscrapers
1994 Hoyt C. Hottel, Massachusetts Beta '22 solar energy research
1992 Serge Gratch, Pennsylvania Delta '43 alternative fuels and electric car research
1991 Hunter Rouse, Massachusetts Beta '29 Fluid Mechanics for Hydraulic Engineers
1987 Ralph Landau, Pennsylvania Delta '37 co-founder, Scientific Design Company Inc.
1986 Simon Ramo, Utah Alpha '33 microwave research
1985 Daniel C. Drucker, New York Alpha '38 Drucker's Stability Postulate
1984 Kenneth A. Roe, New York Iota '41 AAES founder
1983 Claude E. Shannon, Michigan Gamma '36 father of information theory
1982 David Packard, California Gamma '34 co-founder, Hewlett Packard
1978 Robert G. Heitz, California Beta '36 Dow Chemical Co.
1977 George R. Brown, Colorado Alpha '22 founding member of Brown & Root and the Brown Foundation
1975 Manson Benedict, Massachusetts Beta '28 nuclear engineering
1974 H. I. Romnes, Wisconsin Alpha '28 former president, Western Electric Co.
1971 Patrick E. Haggerty, Wisconsin Beta '36 former president, Texas Instruments Inc.
1970 Glenn B. Warren, Wisconsin Alpha '19 manager of GE engineering turbine generator div.
1969 Michael L. Haider, California Gamma '27 former board chairman, Standard Oil of New Jersey
1967 Walker L. Cisler, New York Delta '22 founding member, National Academy of Engineering
1966 Warren K. Lewis, Massachusetts Beta 1905 father of modern chemical engineering
1965 Frederick R. Kappel, Minnesota Alpha '24 former president, AT&T
1962 Crawford H. Greenewalt, Delaware Alpha '22 former president, DuPont engineering
1961 Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr., Indiana Alpha '46 chairman of Bechtel Group Inc.
1959 Mervin J. Kelly, Missouri Beta '14 former president, Bell Labs
1958 John R. Suman, California Alpha '12 first president of Houston Geological Society
1957 Ben Moreell, Missouri Gamma '13 father of the Navy's Seabees
1956 Philip Sporn, New York Alpha '17 former president, American Electric Power Co.
1955 Harry A. Winne, New York Beta '10 atomic energy
1952 Ervin G. Bailey, Ohio Gamma 1903 invented the Bailey boiler meter
1951 Vannevar Bush, Massachusetts Beta '16 analog computing, presidential science advisor
1950 Walter H. Aldridge, New York Alpha 1887 former president, Texas Gulf Sulfur Co.
1949 Charles M. Allen, Massachusetts Alpha 1894 helped enable turbine efficiency determination
1948 Theodore Von Karman, California Beta 1902 former head of Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory
1947 Lewis W. Chubb, Ohio Gamma 1905 former director, Westinghouse Research Laboratory
1945 John L. Savage, Wisconsin Alpha 1903 supervised Hoover Dam
1944 Charles F. Kettering, Ohio Gamma 1904 inventor of "Freon"
1942 Everette L. DeGolyer, Oklahoma Alpha '11 father of applied geophysics
1940 Clarence F. Hirshfeld, California Alpha 1902 heat-power engineering
1939 Frank B. Jewett, California Beta 1898 president of Bell Labs
1937 Arthur N. Talbot, Illinois Alpha 1881 The Railway Transition Spiral
1932 Michael I. Pupin, New York Alpha 1883 long-distance telephone communication, electrical filters
1930 Ralph Modjeski, Illinois Alpha 1885 bridge builder (Benjamin Franklin Bridge)
1927 Elmer A. Sperry, New Jersey Alpha '21 Sperry Corporation, compasses
1919 Gen. George W. Goethals, Michigan Gamma 1880 supervision of Panama Canal
1914 John E. Sweet, New York Beta 1909 founder of ASME (3rd president)
1902 John Fritz, Pennsylvania Alpha 1895 famed iron and steel manufacturer

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