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Academy of Achievement: Golden Plate Recipients 1961-1976
View Summit Highlights:

The Golden Plate Award is presented annually since 1961 by the Academy of Achievement to approximately 25 guests of honor at the International Achievement Summit.

Chosen by the Academy's Awards Council and other distinguished authorities, these men and women of exceptional accomplishment in the sciences, professions, business, industry, arts, literature, sports, entertainment, and public service are acclaimed ... not as winners, but as "representatives of the many who excel."

This page presents a selected list of honorees from the years 1961 through 1976. Honorees from the following years can be found at the links below, along with a Summary of Golden Plate Recipients grouped by decade and field of endeavor.

Selected Honorees: 1977 - 1992
Selected Honorees: 1993 - 2007
Complete List of Honorees: 2008 - 2012
Summary of Golden Plate Recipients


Class of 1961


Roger Adams, Ph.D.
Organic Chemistry

Luis W. Alvarez, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Thomas Hart Benton
Painting

Herbert L. Block
Editorial Cartoons

Charles Stark Draper, Ph.D.
Aeronautics and Engineering

Rear Adm. George Dufek, USN
South Polar Exploration

Carl Owen Dunbar, Ph.D.
Geology

John W. Galbreath
Industrialist and Sportsman

Judge Learned Hand
Law

Douglas Edison Harding
Philosopher, Author and Teacher

George N. Hatsopoulos, Sc.D.
Thermodynamics and Engineering

Bob Hope
"Ambassador of Entertainment"

Clarence L. Johnson
Aviation Research



Yousuf Karsh
Portrait Photography

Frank H. Knight, Ph.D.
Economics

Willard F. Libby, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, USA
Congressional Gold Medal

Charles William Mayo, M.D.
Medicine

David H. Murdock
Builder and Banker

Theodore Roethke
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Alfred Sherwood Romer, Ph.D.
Zoology and Paleontology

George Silk
Photography

Edward Teller, Ph.D.
Nuclear Physics

Lt. Don Walsh, USN
Undersea Exploration

Alan T. Waterman, Ph.D.
Science and Public Welfare

Alvin M. Weinberg, Ph.D.
Nuclear Physics

William Wyler
Motion Picture Director


Class of 1962


Nina S. Braunwald, M.D.
First Woman Heart Surgeon

James S. Copley
Journalism

Maxime A. Faget
Mercury Capsule Design

Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Rafer Johnson
Olympic Champion

Waldo K. Lyon, Ph.D.
Submarine Conquest of the Arctic

Louis Nizer
Law and Literature

Peter G. Peterson
Business and Marketing





John R. Pierce, Ph.D.
Electrical Engineering

Frank Press, Ph.D.
Geophysics

Vice Adm. William F. Raborn, Jr., USN
"Father of the Polaris"

Robert Stack
"The Untouchables" TV Series

Wendell M. Stanley, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Harrison A. Storms, Jr., Ph.D.
Aeronautics Pioneer

Thomas Vanderslice, Ph.D.
Vacuum Research

Father William B. Wasson
Savior of Orphaned Children


Class of 1964


Jacqueline Cochran
Business and Aviation

William H. Fairbank, Ph.D.
Physicist and Pioneer in Quarks

Col. John H. Glenn, USMC
First American to Orbit the Earth

Oscar Griffin, Jr.
Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting

Bernhard Haurwitz, Ph.D.
Atmospheric Research

Paul Manship
Sculpture

Edward M. McMillan, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Walter H. Munk, Ph.D.
Pioneering Oceanographer





Jim Murray
Pulitzer Prize for Sportswriting

Floyd B. Odlum
Industry and Public Service

William H. Pickering, Ph.D.
Interplanetary Exploration

Simon Ramo, Ph.D.
Industrialist and Scientist

Gen. Holland M. Smith, USMC
"Father of Amphibious Warfare"

Gen. Leif J. Sverdrup, USA
Soldier and Civic Leader

King Vidor
Motion Picture Direction

Joe Walker
X-15 Test Pilot


Class of 1965


Prof. Howard H. Aiken
"Father of the Computer"

Bill Bradley
Scholar, Athlete and Legislator

Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois, USAF
America's First Military Aviator

Helen Keller
"First Lady of Courage"

William L. Langer, Ph.D.
History

Harding L. Lawrence
Management

Maria Goeppert Mayer, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics



Brig. Gen. James McDivitt, USAF
Conquest of Space

David Merrick
Theater Production

Harold A. Rosen, Ph.D.
"Early Bird" Communications

Harold Russell
Employment of the Handicapped

Gen. B.A. Schriever, USAF
America's Air Defense

Henry Taube, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Lt. Col. Edward H. White II, USAF
Conquest of Space

Kemmons Wilson
Founder, Holiday Inn


Class of 1966


Lee J. Cobb
Theater

Albert P. Crary
Antarctic Exploration

Harold Edgerton, Ph.D.
"Father of Strobeflash Photography"

Percy Foreman
Legendary Courtroom Lawyer

Ivar Giaever, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

John W. Hill
Public Relations

George W. Jenkins
Supermarket Industry

Adrian Kantrowitz, M.D.
Artificial Heart Implant

Arthur Kantrowitz, Ph.D.
Scientist and Engineer



E.C. Kendall
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Bernard Kilgore
Journalism

Allan Nevins, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for History

Irvine H. Page, M.D.
Heart Research

George Gaylord Simpson, Ph.D.
Zoology and Paleontology

Charles B. Thornton
Industrialist

Harold C. Urey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

DeWitt Wallace
Founder, the Reader's Digest

Lila Bell Acheson Wallace
Presidential Medal of Freedom

Alvin S. White
XB-70 Chief Test Pilot


Class of 1967


Jacob Bjerknes, Ph.D.
Creator of Modern Meteorology

August A. Busch, Jr.
Brewer and Civic Leadership

Anna Chennault
Champion of Democracy

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.
Legendary Heart Surgeon

Peter Debye, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Allen Drury
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Paul Freund, S.J.D.
Constitutional Law





Philippe Halsman
111 Covers for Life Magazine

David Lawrence
U.S. News & World Report

James J. Nance
Banker and Civic Leader

Claude E. Shannon, Ph.D.
Electronics and Mathematics

J. R. Simplot
Potatoes

Gordon K. Teal, Ph.D.
Inventor

Vladimir Zworykin, Ph.D.
"Father of Television"


Class of 1968


Denton A. Cooley, M.D.
Heart Transplant Pioneer

Thomas G. Corcoran
Washington's First Modern Lobbyist

Wallace John Eckert, Ph.D.
Celestial Mechanics

Edward King Gaylord
Newspaper Publishing

William H. Goetzmann, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for History

Chinn Ho
Trans-Pacific Industrialist

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, Jr.
War Hero and U.S. Senator

Ewing M. Kauffman
Industrialist and Sportsman





Captain James A. Lovell, Jr., USN
Conquest of Space

Stan Musial
Baseball Hall of Fame

Brig. General Robin Olds, USAF
Aviation Hall of Fame

Eugene Patterson
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing

John C. Portman, Jr.
Architect, Designer, and Developer

Eugene C. Pulliam
Newspaper Publishing

George Shearing
Pianist and Composer

Lawrence E. Spivak
"Meet the Press"


Class of 1969


Lt. Col. William A. Anders, USAF
Apollo 8 Astronaut

Malcolm Baldridge
Business Management

Col. Frank Borman, USAF
Space Exploration

Charles D. Kelman, M.D.
Pioneering Ophthalmologist

Mary Wells Lawrence
Advertising

Charles Luckman
Architect and Public Servant





Mickey Mantle
Baseball Hall of Fame

William K. H. Mau
Industrialist

Dean A. McGee
Oil, Gas, and Uranium

George M. Steinbrenner III
Entrepreneur and Sportsman

Charles H. Townes, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

David L. Wolper
Television


Class of 1970


Amb. Shirley Temple Black
Film Actress and Diplomat

Terry Bradshaw
All-American Quarterback

Bernard B. Brodie, M.D.
Modern Medicine Award

George Cukor
Oscar for "My Fair Lady"

Peter C. Goldmark, Ph.D.
Invention

Robert A. Good, M.D.
First Bone Marrow Transplant





Jack S. Kilby
Inventor of the Integrated Circuit

Rita Levi-Montalcini, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Hon. Richard G. Lugar
United States Senate

Bobby Orr
Hockey Hall of Fame

H. Ross Perot
Computer Services Entrepreneur

John Wayne
Legend of the Silver Screen


Class of 1971


Norman E. Borlaug, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize for Peace

Herbert C. Brown, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Turner Catledge
Journalism

Leo Cherne
Champion of the Refugees

Hon. Gerald R. Ford
38th President of the United States

Milton Friedman
Nobel Prize in Economics

Leon Jaworski
Law and Public Service

Louis I. Kahn
Architecture



H. Gobind Khorana, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Willem J. Kolff, M.D.
Inventor, the Artificial Kidney

J. Willard Marriott
Real Estate Development

James A. Michener
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Alexander Sachs
Nuclear Research

Irving Stone
Best-Selling Author

Earl Sutherland, Jr., Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Lowell Thomas
Newscaster, Author, and Explorer

Edward Villella
Ballet


Class of 1972


Frank Capra
Motion Picture Direction

Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky, USAF
Aviation Hall of Fame

George S. Eccles
Banker and Economist

Marriner Stoddard Eccles
Financier

Peter Graves
"Mission Impossible" Series

Helen Hayes
Film and Stage Actress

Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Golf Course Architect

William (Bill) P. Lear
Inventor and Entrepreneur

Akio Morita
President, Sony Corporation





Charles Stewart Mott
Automotive Pioneer

Elmer Rasmuson
Banker and Civic Leader

Rosalind Russell
Volunteer Service

Harold Schafer
Retailing

Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Albert Starr, M.D.
Heart Surgeon and Inventor

W. Clement Stone
Insurance

N. Eldon Tanner
Religion

Lord Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet
Newspaper Publishing


Class of 1973


Neil Armstrong
First Man on the Moon

Hon. Howard Baker
United States Senator

Sir Edmund Hillary
Conqueror of Mt. Everest

Jill Kinmont
Inspiration to the Handicapped

Ray A. Kroc
McDonald's Restaurants



Tenzing Norgay
First Man to Stand Atop Mt. Everest

Mary G. Roebling
Banking

Eric Sloane
Historian

Bart Starr
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback

John E. Swearingen
Petroleum Industry

Jonathan Winters
Comedian


Class of 1974


Robert Anderson
Industrial Management

Gen. George S. Brown, USAF
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Richard M. Devos
Co-Founder, Amway

Lee A. DuBridge, Ph.D.
President Emeritus of Cal Tech

Jack Eckerd
Retailing

Henry Eyring, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science

Paul J. Flory, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Malcolm S. Forbes
Magazine Publishing



J.B. Fuqua
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Ernest W. Hahn
Shopping Center Development

John Havlicek
Champion of the Boston Celtics

Harold B. Lee
Religion

Patrick B. Oliphant
Pulitzer Prize Political Cartoonist

James Stewart
Legendary Film Actor

Jack Valenti
Entertainment Executive

Eugene P. Wigner, D.Sc.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, USAF
First Man to Break the Sound Barrier


Class of 1975


Carl D. Anderson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Isaac Asimov, Ph.D.
Science Writer

Rick Barry
Captain, NBA Champions

Ray Charles
Musician and Vocalist

Hugh F. Culverhouse
Entrepreneur

Bob Griese
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback

Maurice R. Hilleman, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science

John Kenneth Jamieson
International Industrialist

Herman W. Lay
Food Retailing



Art Linkletter
Television Producer

Willie Mays
Baseball Hall of Fame

George E. Palade, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Ruth Patrick, Ph.D.
Ecology

Carl Sagan, Ph.D.
Astronomy and Literature

Col. Harland Sanders
Founder, Kentucky Fried Chicken

Wernher von Braun, Ph.D.
Rocket Engineer

Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger
Law and Public Service

Edwin C. Whitehead
Medical Entrepreneur

Charles B. Wilkinson
Football Hall of Fame


Class of 1976


Tenley Albright, M.D.
Surgeon and Olympic Champion

Joe L. Allbritton
Media and Banking

Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr.
International Construction

William Bernbach
Advertising

Helen K. Copley
Newspaper Publishing

Will and Ariel Durant
Pulitzer Prize for History

Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield
Nobel Prize in Medicine



Hon. Shirley Hufstedler
Law and Public Service

Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Lucy

Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USNR
Medal of Honor

Jonas Salk, M.D.
Developer of the Polio Vaccine

Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, USAF
Commander, Apollo-Soyuz Mission

Roger Staubach
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback

Adm. James B. Stockdale, USN
Medal of Honor

John Wooden
Basketball Hall of Fame