Kyoto Prize

Kyoto Prize: every winner

Every recorded recipient in one list, oldest first. Created by the Inamori Foundation in 1984 and first awarded in 1985 in three categories: advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy. Three prizes are presented each November in Kyoto, Japan. Carries a prize of roughly $650,000 per category.

Browse Kyoto Prize by year

87 recipients, 1985-2026

Year Category Winner
1985 Advanced Technology Rudolf Emil Kalman
1985 Basic Sciences Claude Elwood Shannon
1986 Advanced Technology Nicole Marthe Le Douarin
1986 Basic Sciences George Evelyn Hutchinson
1987 Advanced Technology Morris Cohen
1987 Basic Sciences Jan Hendrik Oort
1988 Advanced Technology John McCarthy
1989 Advanced Technology Amos E. Joel, Jr.
1989 Basic Sciences Israel Gelfand
1990 Advanced Technology Sydney Brenner
1990 Basic Sciences Jane Goodall
1991 Advanced Technology Michael Szwarc
1991 Basic Sciences Edward Norton Lorenz
1992 Advanced Technology Maurice Wilkes
1992 Basic Sciences Yasutomi Nishizuka
1993 Advanced Technology Jack S. Kilby
1993 Basic Sciences W. D. Hamilton
1994 Advanced Technology Paul C. Lauterbur
1994 Basic Sciences André Weil
1995 Advanced Technology George William Gray
1995 Basic Sciences Chūshirō Hayashi
1996 Advanced Technology Donald Knuth
1996 Basic Sciences Mario R. Capecchi
1997 Advanced Technology Federico Faggin
1997 Advanced Technology Marcian Edward Hoff, Jr.
1997 Advanced Technology Masatoshi Shima
1997 Advanced Technology Stanley Mazor
1997 Basic Sciences Daniel H. Janzen
1998 Advanced Technology Kurt Wüthrich
1998 Basic Sciences Kiyoshi Itō
1999 Advanced Technology W. David Kingery
1999 Basic Sciences Walter Munk
2000 Advanced Technology Tony Hoare
2000 Basic Sciences Walter Jakob Gehring
2001 Advanced Technology Izuo Hayashi
2001 Advanced Technology Morton B. Panish
2001 Advanced Technology Zhores I. Alferov
2001 Basic Sciences John Maynard Smith
2002 Advanced Technology Leroy Hood
2002 Basic Sciences Mikhail Gromov
2003 Advanced Technology George McClelland Whitesides
2003 Basic Sciences Eugene Parker
2004 Advanced Technology Alan Kay
2004 Basic Sciences Alfred G. Knudson
2005 Advanced Technology George H. Heilmeier
2005 Basic Sciences Simon Asher Levin
2006 Advanced Technology Leonard Arthur Herzenberg
2006 Basic Sciences Hirotsugu Akaike
2007 Advanced Technology Hiroo Inokuchi
2007 Basic Sciences Hiroo Kanamori
2008 Advanced Technology Richard M. Karp
2008 Basic Sciences Tony Pawson
2009 Advanced Technology Isamu Akasaki
2009 Basic Sciences Barbara Rosemary Grant
2009 Basic Sciences Peter Raymond Grant
2010 Advanced Technology Shinya Yamanaka
2010 Basic Sciences László Lovász
2011 Advanced Technology John Werner Cahn
2011 Basic Sciences Rashid Sunyaev
2012 Advanced Technology Ivan Sutherland
2012 Basic Sciences Yoshinori Ohsumi
2013 Advanced Technology Robert Heath Dennard
2013 Basic Sciences Masatoshi Nei
2014 Advanced Technology Robert Samuel Langer
2014 Basic Sciences Edward Witten
2015 Advanced Technology Toyoki Kunitake
2015 Basic Sciences Michel Mayor
2016 Advanced Technology Takeo Kanade
2016 Basic Sciences Tasuku Honjo
2017 Advanced Technology Takashi Mimura
2017 Basic Sciences Graham Farquhar
2018 Advanced Technology Karl Deisseroth
2018 Basic Sciences Masaki Kashiwara
2019 Advanced Technology Ching W. Tang
2019 Basic Sciences James E. Gunn
2021 Advanced Technology Andrew Yao
2021 Basic Sciences Robert G. Roeder
2022 Advanced Technology Carver Mead
2022 Basic Sciences Bryan Grenfell
2023 Advanced Technology Ryuzo Yanagimachi
2023 Basic Sciences Elliott H. Lieb
2024 Advanced Technology John Pendry
2024 Basic Sciences Paul F. Hoffman
2025 Advanced Technology Shun-ichi Amari
2025 Basic Sciences Azim Surani
2026 Advanced Technology Tsutomu Miyasaka
2026 Basic Sciences Farooq Azam