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Academy of Achievement: Golden Plate Recipients 1977-1992
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 1977 through 1992. Honorees from other 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: 1961 - 1976
Selected Honorees: 1993 - 2007
Complete List of Honorees: 2008 - 2012
Summary of Golden Plate Recipients


Class of 1977


Hank Aaron
All-Time Home Run King

J. Paul Austin
The Coca-Cola Company

Nicholas F. Brady
Finance and Public Service

Curtis Leroy Carlson
Entrepreneur

John Chancellor
Broadcast Journalism

W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
Business and Public Service

Howard Cosell
Sportscaster

Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, USAF
Medal of Honor

R. Buckminster Fuller
Inventor of the Geodesic Dome

Alex Haley
Author of "Roots"

Peter Kiewit
International Construction



Spencer W. Kimball
Religion

John D. MacArthur
Insurance Entrepreneur

Jeffrey K. MacNelly
Pulitzer Prize Editorial Cartoonist

Robert Moses
"Master Builder"

Sir Yue-Kong Pao
World's No. 1 Private Sealord

Gen. Dan Shomron
Israeli Hero of the Entebbe Rescue

Judge John J. Sirica
Watergate Trial Judge

Samuel C.C. Ting, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize for Physics

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Nobel Prize for Peace

Gen. Louis H. Wilson, Jr., USMC
Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps

Stevie Wonder
Music's "Wonder Man"

Rosalyn S. Yalow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine


Class of 1978


Philip W. Anderson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Erma Bombeck
Humorist and Best-selling Author

Gen. Omar N. Bradley, USA
America's Only Five-Star General

Clark M. Clifford
Lawyer and Presidential Advisor

Olivia de Havilland
Two Oscars for Best Actress

J. Robert Fluor
International Construction

Armand Hammer, M.D.
Industrialist

Gordie Howe
Hockey's Legend

Carl H. Lindner
Financier and Investor



Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.
History-making Trial Judge

Tom Landry
Football Coach

Sean MacBride
Nobel Prize for Peace

Colleen McCullough
Author of "The Thorn Birds"

George P. Mitchell
Energy and Development

Andrew V. Schally, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Pulitzer Prize for History

Adm. Stansfield Turner, USN
Director of Central Intelligence

Judge William H. Webster
Director of the FBI

Col. Ulrich Wegener
Commando Rescue of 86 Hostages


Class of 1979


Paul (Bear) Bryant
Collegiate Football Coach

Joni Eareckson
Inspiring Victory Over Quadriplegia

Henry Fonda
Motion Picture Legend

Christopher B. Hemmeter
Hawaii Resort Developer

Gerald D. Hines
Real Estate Development

Ray L. Hunt
Energy and Development

Gen. David C. Jones, USAF
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff





Donald M. Kendall
International Industrialist

Louis L'Amour
Western Novelist

Linus Pauling, Ph.D.
Double Recipient of Nobel Prize

Arno A. Penzias, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Jay A. Pritzker
Finance and Hotels

Patrick C. Steptoe, M.D.
Creator, World's First Test Tube Baby

C. Y. Tung
World's Largest Shipowner


Class of 1980


Paul N. "Red" Adair
"Tamer of Wild Oil Well Fires"

Robert O. Anderson
Founder, Atlantic Richfield Oil Co.

Winton M. Blount
International Construction

A.W. (Tom) Clausen
Bank of America

Carl Djerassi, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science

Clint Eastwood
Motion Picture Production

Sheldon Lee Glashow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Jesse Greenstein and Maarten Schmidt
Astronomy Gold Medal

Mary Kay
Queen of Cosmetics

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.
"On Death and Dying"





Norman Lear
Television Producer

Theodore H. Maiman, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Laser

Amb. Kenneth D. Taylor
"The Great Escape" from Iran

Eugene L. Roberts, Jr.
Newspaper Editor

Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, USA
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander

Charles M. Schulz
Cartoonist - Creator of "Snoopy"

Roger W. Sperry, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

R. David Thomas
Founder, Wendy's International

Lawrence Welk
Television

Henry Winkler
Television


Class of 1981


Jay Van Andel
Co-Founder, Amway

Herbert W. Boyer, Ph.D.
Pioneering Research in Gene Splicing

William K. Coors
Colorado's "Man of the Year"

Trammell Crow
Real Estate Development

Sen. Sam Ervin, Jr.
Lawyer, Jurist, Legislator and Patriot

Val L. Fitch, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Emil Frei III, M.D.
Cancer Research

Larry Hagman
Television Series

William R. Hewlett
Co-Founder, Hewlett-Packard Co.

Hanna H. Gray, Ph.D.
President, University of Chicago



Carl Hubbell
Baseball Hall of Fame

Amb. L. Bruce Laingen
Leader of American Hostages in Iran

Philip Leder, M.D.
Molecular Genetics

James F. Neal
Law

Jim Plunkett
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback

James W. Rouse
Real Estate Development

Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Adm. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN
First American to Journey Into Space

Herschel Walker
Heisman Trophy Winner

Doak Walker and Bobby Layne
Legendary Football Heroes

Frank H. Westheimer, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science


Class of 1982


Arnold O. Beckman, Ph.D.
Inventor and Entrepreneur

Nolan K. Bushnell
Computer Game Pioneer

Marva N. Collins
Teacher Extraordinaire

Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, USA
Hero of Rescue from Terrorists

Col. C. Gordon Fullerton, USAF
"Columbia" Space Shuttle Pilot

Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.
Author and Evolutionary Theorist

Wayne Gretzky
Hockey's Scoring Champion

Adm. Bobby R. Inman, USN
National Security

Steven P. Jobs
Co-Founder, Apple Computer

Leon M. Lederman, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Reuben and Rose Mattus
Founders, Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Co.





Paul MacCready, Ph.D.
Human and Solar-Powered Flight

William G. McGowan
Founder, MCI Communications

Roger Milliken
Textile Industrialist

Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.
Artificial Intelligence

Allen H. Neuharth
Newspaper Publishing

O. Wayne Rollins
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Dean E. Smith
Legendary Basketball Coach

George D. Snell, Sc.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

James Levoy Sorenson
Medical Entrepreneur

Gen. John W. Vessey, Jr., USA
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Chung Ju Yung
International Construction


Class of 1983


Gene Autry
Entertainment and Broadcasting

Jerry H. Buss, Ph.D.
Owner, Los Angeles Lakers

Sister Antonia Brenner
"The Prison Is My Convent"

William C. DeVries, M.D.
Artificial Heart Surgeon

John Forsythe
Television

Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hopper, USN
Computer Revolution Pioneer

David H. Hubel, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Robert K. Jarvik, M.D.
Developer, the Artificial Heart

Howard W. Jones, Jr., M.D. and Georgeanna Seegar Jones, M.D.
Reproductive Medicine

John W. Kluge
Broadcasting Entrepreneur

Amb. Sol. M. Linowitz
Presidential Medal of Freedom



D. Wayne Lukas
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

Robert K. Massie
Pulitzer Prize for Biography

Robert S. Mulliken, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Joe Paterno
Collegiate Football

Ross Perot, Jr.
First Global Helicopter Flight

Robert A. Pritzker
Manufacturing

Hon. Donald H. Rumsfeld
Business and Public Service

Arthur L. Schawlow, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D.
Pioneer of Organ Transplantation

Joe Theismann
Super Bowl Champion Quarterback

Kenneth G. Wilson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Amb. Andrew Young
Champion of Civil Rights


Class of 1984


Hon. Jimmy Carter
39th President of the United States

Mildred Cohn, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science

Karl Eller
Media Entrepreneur

Thomas F. Frist, Jr., M.D.
Health Care Industry

J. Peter Grace
Industrialist

Franco Harris
NFL's "Player of the Decade"

Douglas R. Hofstadter, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction

Robert Hofstadter, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Carl C. Icahn
Financier

Quincy Jones
Musical Impresario



Burton M. Joseph
Agricultural Exporting

Amb. Max M. Kampelman
International Statesman

General P.X. Kelley, USMC
Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps

Samuel J. LeFrak
Real Estate Development

Thomas S. Monaghan
Founder, Domino's Pizza

T. Boone Pickens, Jr.
Oil Industry Entrepreneur

Carl R. Pohlad
Investor and Banker

Brooks Robinson
Baseball Hall of Fame

Carlo Rubbia, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

John Travolta
Trend-Setting Motion Picture Actor

Robert Edward "Ted" Turner
Cable Television Pioneer


Class of 1985


Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D.
Philosopher and Author

Amb. Walter H. Annenberg
Publishing and Public Service

Philip F. Anschutz
Oil, Railroads, and Fiber Optics

Betty Ford
Distinguished Volunteer Service

Robert W. Galvin
Telecommunications

Gordon P. Getty
Patron of the Arts

Roberto C. Goizueta
The Coca-Cola Company

Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster
Presidential Medal of Freedom

Cecil H. Green
Co-Founder, Texas Instruments

Mitchell D. Kapor
Computer Software Pioneer

Donald E. Knuth, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science

George Kozmetsky, Ph.D.
Technology Entrepreneur



David McCullough
Pulitzer Prize for Biography

R. Bruce Merrifield, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Michael R. Milken
Financier

Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi Winery

Allen E. Paulson
Aviation Industry

Wolfgang Puck
Culinary Revolution

Mary Lou Retton
Gold Medal Gymnast

Roger R. Revelle, Ph.D.
Oceanography and Education

Donald W. Reynolds
Newspaper Publishing

Lionel Richie
Singer and Musician

Fritz Scholder
New American Indian Art Movement

Elizabeth Taylor
Two Oscars for Best Actress

Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.
National Medal of Science


Class of 1986


Muhammad Ali
Boxing Champion of the World

David Baltimore, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Daniel Boorstin, J.S.D.
The Librarian of Congress

Michael S. Brown, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Freeman Dyson, Ph.D.
Theoretical Physicist and Author

Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Herbert A. Hauptman, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Roy M. Huffington
Oil and Natural Gas Exploration

John H. Johnson
Founder, Ebony Magazine

Jerome Karle, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Amb. Clare Boothe Luce
Author and Diplomat

Loretta Lynn
Legend of Country Music

J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr.
International Hospitality Empire

Emil (Bus) Mosbacher, Jr.
Yachtsman and Businessman



Amb. Paul H. Nitze
Arms Control Advisor

Joseph Papp
Theatrical Producer

Leontyne Price
National Medal of Arts

Isidor Isaac Rabi, Ph.D., Sc.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Robert Rauschenberg
Internationally Honored Artist

Hon. William E. Simon
Business and Public Service

Solomon H. Snyder, M.D.
Neuroscience and Pharmacology

Steven Spielberg
Master Filmmaker

Robert A. Swanson
Biotechnology Revolution

Gloria Vanderbilt
Designer, Artist, and Author

Klaus Von Klitzing, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Hon. Vernon A. Walters
Ambassador to the United Nations

James D. Watson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

John C. Whitehead
Financier and Statesman

Herman Wouk
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction


Class of 1987


John L. Ashbery
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

John Bardeen, Ph.D.
Two Nobel Prizes in Physics

Francis H.C. Crick, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Suzanne Farrell
Ballerina Extraordinaire

Sen. Barry M. Goldwater
Presidential Medal of Freedom

Jane Goodall, Ph.D.
Renowned Primate Researcher

Jim Henson
Creator of "The Muppets"

Dudley R. Herschbach, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D.
Molecular Biology

Henry R. Kravis
Financier and Investor

Yuan T. Lee, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Reinhold Messner
Greatest Mountaineer on Earth





Luc Montagnier
Discoverer of AIDS Virus

Hon. Sandra Day O'Connor
Supreme Court of the United States

Lloyd Richards
Dean, Yale School of Drama

Burton Richter, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Alice M. Rivlin, Ph.D.
Economic Studies

David M. Robinson
Basketball Player of the Year

Henry Rosovsky, Ph.D.
Education and Economics

Burt Rutan
Designer of the Voyager

Diane Sawyer
Broadcast Journalism

Julian Schwinger, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Wayne Thiebaud
Gifted Realist Artist

Robert W. Wilson, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics


Class of 1988


Roy Acuff
The King of Country Music

Bernard Bailyn, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for History

Benjamin C. Bradlee
The Washington Post

Susan Butcher
Champion of the Iditarod

Johnny Cash
Country Music Legend

Wendell Castle
Craft Furniture

Tom Clancy
Best-selling Author

Donald J. Cram, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

E. L. Doctorow
American Book Award

Michael Douglas
Oscar for "Best Actor"

Ahmet M. Ertegun
Music Industry

Julius Erving
Basketball Champion

Wynton Marsalis
Pulitzer Prize for Music

Walter Payton
Football Champion





Gen. Colin L. Powell
Soldier and Statesman

George R. Roberts
Leveraged Acquisitions

James Rosenquist
Master of Vast Murals

Steven J. Ross
Entertainment Conglomerate

George B. Schaller, Ph.D.
Legendary Field Zoologist

Richard E. Schultes, Ph.D.
Legendary Ethnobotanist

Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF
Presidential Medal of Freedom

Judge William S. Sessions
Director of the FBI

Melvin Simon
Shopping Center Development

James A. Van Allen, Ph.D.
Discoverer of the Magnetosphere

Allan C. Wilson, Ph.D.
Evolutionary Genetics

August Wilson
Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

Stanley R. Zax
Insurance Industry


Class of 1989


Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Basketball Scoring Champion

Paul Berg, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tom Brokaw
NBC "Nightly News"

Lester Crown
Investor and Philanthropist

Johann Deisenhofer, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Gertrude B. Elion
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Ernest and Julio Gallo
Founders, E.&J. Gallo Winery

Donald A. Glaser, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Vartan Gregorian, Ph.D.
Education

Walter A. Haas, Jr.
Levi Strauss & Co.

William Hanna and Joseph R. Barbera
Animation Pioneers

George H. Hitchings, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Philip H. Knight
Founder, NIKE, Inc.



Ralph Lauren
Fashion and Design

George Lucas
Motion Picture Production

Henry Mancini
70 Grammy Nominations

Craig O. McCaw
Cellular Communications

Hon. Robert A. Mosbacher
U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Howard Nemerov
Poet Laureate of the United States

Mike Nichols
Motion Picture and Stage Director

Arthur Rock
Venture Capitalist

Melvin Schwartz, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Dinah Shore
Entertainment

Beverly Sills
Opera

Bill Walsh
Football Coach of the Year

Oprah Winfrey
Talk Show Host and Actress

Stephen A. Wynn
Gaming Industry


Class of 1990


Maya Angelou
Poet and Historian

Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D.
Undersea Exploration

Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Hans G. Dehmelt, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Bob Feller
Baseball Hall of Fame

Lou Holtz
Collegiate Football

Chuck Jones
Animation Pioneer

Michael Jordan
Basketball's "Most Valuable Player"

Donald Kennedy, Ph.D.
President, Stanford University

Jim Lehrer
Broadcast Journalism

Theodore N. Lerner
Real Estate Development



Peter Martins
New York City Ballet

Ralph Nader
Consumer Crusader

Roger S. Penske
Auto Racing and Business

Norman F. Ramsey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Hon. Ronald W. Reagan
40th President of the United States

Edward S. (Ted) Rogers, Jr.
Canadian Telecommunications Entrepreneur

Pete Rozelle
National Football League

Neil Sheehan
Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

Sidney Sheldon
Best-selling Novelist

Gene Siskel
Film Critic

Harold E. Varmus, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Dennis R. Washington
Construction and Railroads

Leslie H. Wexner
Retailing and Fashion


Class of 1991


Ken Burns
Documentary Classics

Elias J. Corey, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Oscar De La Renta
Fashion Design

Alan M. Dershowitz
Criminal Law

Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.
Undersea Exploration

Donald G. Fisher
Founder, the Gap, Inc.

Jerome I. Friedman, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Dizzy Gillespie
Master Trumpeter

Audrey Hepburn
Film Actress and Ambassador

Philip C. Johnson
Design and Architecture

Hon. Jack Kemp
Sports and Public Service



Calvin Klein
Fashion Design

Peter Matthiessen
Naturalist and Novelist

James Merrill
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Joseph E. Murray, M.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Javier Perez De Cuellar
Secretary-General of the United Nations

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA
Commander, Operation Desert Storm

Martin Scorsese
Master Filmmaker

Walter H. Shorenstein
Real Estate Development

Wallace Stegner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Richard E. Taylor, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Physics

Clyde W. Tombaugh
Discoverer of Planet Pluto

Barbara Walters
Broadcast Journalism


Class of 1992


James H. Billington, Ph.D.
The Librarian of Congress

Bonnie Blair
Olympic Champion Speed Skater

Richard Branson
Virgin Group of Companies

Kevin Costner
Movie Picture Production

Michael Crichton, M.D.
Best-selling Author

Barry Diller
Entertainment Entrepreneur

Robert M. Gates
Director of Central Intelligence

William H. Gates III
Founder, Microsoft Corporation

Judith Jamison
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater



Arthur Kornberg, Ph.D.
Nobel Prize in Medicine

Walter E. Massey, Ph.D.
Science and Education

Jessye Norman
Opera

Antonia C. Novello, M.D.
U.S. Surgeon General

Dolly Parton
Entertainment

Richard E. Rainwater
Financier

Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute

Oliver Stone
Motion Picture Production

Barbra Streisand
Singer, Actress and Director

Mona Van Duyn
Poet Laureate of the United States