Albert Einstein Award

The Albert Einstein Award was an award in theoretical physics, given from 1951 to 1979 to honor great achievements in the natural sciences. It was created by the Lewis and Rosa Strauss Memorial Fund to celebrate Albert Einstein’s 70th birthday. The award included a gold medal featuring Einstein, made by the artist Gilroy Roberts, and a cash prize that started at $15,000 but was later reduced to $5,000.

Albert Einstein in his later years.

A special committee chose the winners, and the first group included Einstein himself, along with Oppenheimer, von Neumann, and Weyl. This group was part of the Institute for Advanced Study, which managed the award. One of the trustees of the institute was Lewis L. Strauss.

This award is different from other honors named after Einstein, such as the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, the Albert Einstein Medal, and the Hans Albert Einstein Award. When it was given, some people thought of it as the most important award in the United States for this kind of science. It was even called “the prestigious equivalent of a Nobel Prize” by The New York Times.

Recipients

The Albert Einstein Award was given for great work in theoretical physics. It started in 1951 and ended in 1979. The award was created to honor Albert Einstein on his 70th birthday. Each winner received a gold medal and some money, which started at $15,000 and later became $5,000.

Albert Einstein Award recipients
Year	Image	Recipient(s)
1951		Kurt Gödel
1951		Julian Schwinger
1954		Richard Feynman
1958		Edward Teller
1959		Willard Libby
1960		Leó Szilárd
1961		Luis Alvarez
1965		John Wheeler
1967		Marshall Rosenbluth
1970		Yuval Ne'eman
1972		Eugene Wigner
1978		Stephen Hawking
1979		Tullio Regge