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Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal

Overview

GSA awards the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal to individual GSA members for lifetime achievement in the field of genetics, recognizing the full body of work of exceptional geneticists. Recipients will have made substantial contributions to genetics throughout their careers and will have a strong history as a mentor to fellow geneticists.

GSA established the Medal in 1981 and named it in honor of Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945). Morgan received the Nobel Prize in 1933 for his work with Drosophila and his “discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in heredity.” Morgan’s studies of the white mutation and discovery of sex-linked inheritance provided the first experimental evidence that chromosomes are the carriers of genetic information. Subsequent studies in his laboratory led to the discovery of recombination and the first genetic maps.

Nomination Process and Instructions

Full instructions on how to nominate for a GSA Award are available here.

Briefly, a nomination packet includes 

  • Nominee name and contact information
  • Nominator name and contact information (if different from the nominee)
  • Cover Letter (250 words or fewer)
  • NIH-style biosketch (≤5 pages)
  • Lived-experience statement (250 words or fewer)
  • Selection questionnaire (see below)
  • Demographic survey (optional)

Selection Questionnaire

  • Describe five of the nominee’s most impactful research contributions to the field of genetics over the course of their entire scientific career. (100 words or fewer)
  • Describe the nominee’s impact on the scientific community as a whole. This may include efforts to diversify the field and make it more inclusive. (100 words or fewer)
  • Describe the nominee’s approach to and success with individual mentorship and training. (100 words or fewer)
  • Describe the nominee’s scientific leadership accomplishments. (100 words or fewer)

Eligibility

To be considered for the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, the nominee must be an individual GSA member who has held an independent position for more than 15 years.

Important Dates

Nominations are due September 5, 2023.

Past Recipients

2023 No award given
2022 Michael Lynch, Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Arizona State University
2021 Ruth Lehmann, Whitehead Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2020 Gerald Fink, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Botstein, Calico Life Sciences
2019 Daniel Hartl, Harvard University
2018 Barbara Meyer, University of California, Berkeley
2017 Richard C. Lewontin, Harvard University
2016 Nancy Kleckner, Harvard University
2015 Brian Charlesworth, University of Edinburgh, UK
2014 Frederick M. Ausubel, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
2013 Thomas Petes, Duke University
2012 Kathryn V. Anderson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
2011 James E. Haber, Brandeis University
2010 Alexander Tzagoloff, Columbia University
2009 John Roth, University of California, Davis
2008 Michael Ashburner, Cambridge University, UK
2007 Oliver Smithies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2006 Masatoshi Nei, Penn State University
2005 Robert L. Metzenberg, University of California, Los Angeles
2004 Bruce N. Ames, University of California, Berkeley
2003 David S. Hogness, Stanford University School of Medicine
2002 Ira Herskowitz, University of California, San Francisco
2001 Yasuji Oshima, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
2000 Evelyn M. Witkin, Rutgers University
1999 Salome Waelsch, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1998 Norman H. Horowitz, California Institute of Technology
1997 Oliver E. Nelson, University of Wisconsin–Madison
1996 Franklin W. Stahl, University of Oregon
1995 Matthew Meselson, Harvard University
1994 David D. Perkins, Stanford University
1993 Ray D. Owen, California Institute of Technology
1992 Edward H. Coe, Jr., University of Missouri
1991 Armin Dale Kaiser, Stanford University
1990 Charles Yanofsky, Stanford University
1989 Dan L. Lindsley, University of California, San Diego
1988 Norman H. Giles, University of Georgia
1987 James F. Crow, University of Wisconsin–Madison
1986 Seymour Benzer, California Institute of Technology
1985 Herschel Roman, University of Washington
1984 George W. Beadle, University of Chicago
1984 R. Alexander Brink, University of Wisconsin–Madison
1983 Edward B. Lewis, California Institute of Technology
1982 Sewall Wright, University of Wisconsin–Madison
1981 Barbara McClintock, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
1981 Marcus M. Rhoades, Indiana University

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