# List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Columbia University as alumni or faculty

This list of Nobel laureates affiliated with Columbia University as alumni or faculty comprehensively shows alumni (graduates and attendees) or faculty members (professors of various ranks, researchers, and visiting lecturers or professors) affiliated with Columbia University in New York City who were awarded the Nobel Prize or the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. People who have given public lectures, talks or non-curricular seminars; studied as non-degree students; received honorary degrees; or served as administrative staff at the university are excluded from the list. Summer school attendees and visitors are generally excluded from the list, since summer terms are not part of formal academic years; the same rule applies to the extension school.
Alumni or faculty members of Barnard College after 1900 and Bard College by 1944 are included in the list. Physicians and long-term medical staff of the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital are included in the list.
The Nobel Prizes, established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, are awarded to individuals who make outstanding contributions in the fields of Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine. An associated prize, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics), was instituted by Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, in 1968 and was first awarded in 1969.
As of the 2023 awards, 103 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Columbia University as alumni or faculty. Among the 103 laureates, 72 are Nobel laureates in natural sciences; 46 are Columbia alumni (graduates and attendees) and 34 have been long-term academic members of the Columbia faculty; and subject-wise, 33 laureates have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, more than any other subject. This list considers Nobel laureates as equal individuals and does not consider their various prize shares or if they received the prize more than once.

## Summary

All types of affiliations, namely alumni and faculty members, count equally in the following table and throughout the whole page.
In the following list, the number following a person's name is the year they received the prize; in particular, a number with asterisk (*) means the person received the award while they were working at Columbia University (including emeritus staff). A name marked with a dagger ($^†$) indicates that this person has already been listed in a previous category (i.e., multiple affiliations).
Summary of Columbia University's Nobel Laureates :
| Category | Alumni | Professors of various ranks | Researchers or visitors |
| Total: 103 | 46 | 34 | 43 |
| Physics (33) | Robert Millikan – 1923 Isidor Rabi – 1944 Julian Schwinger – 1965 Leon Cooper – 1972 James Rainwater – 1975 Arno Penzias – 1978 Val Fitch – 1980 Leon Lederman – 1988 Melvin Schwartz – 1988 Norman Ramsey – 1989 Martin Perl – 1995 Arthur Ashkin – 2018 John Clauser – 2022 | Enrico Fermi – 1938 Isidor Rabi$^†$ – 1944* Hideki Yukawa – 1949* Willis Lamb – 1955 Polykarp Kusch – 1955* Tsung-Dao Lee – 1957* Charles Townes – 1964 James Rainwater$^†$ – 1975* Samuel Ting – 1976 Melvin Schwartz$^†$ – 1988 Leon Lederman$^†$ – 1988 Jack Steinberger – 1988 Norman Ramsey$^†$ – 1989 Horst Störmer – 1998* | Emilio Segrè – 1959 Maria Mayer – 1963 Hans Bethe – 1967 Murray Gell-Mann – 1969 Aage Bohr – 1975 Samuel Ting$^†$ – 1976 Steven Weinberg – 1979 Arthur Schawlow – 1981 Carlo Rubbia – 1984 Leon Lederman$^†$ – 1988 Daniel Tsui – 1998 John C. Mather – 2006 Giorgio Parisi – 2021 |
| Chemistry (16) | Irving Langmuir – 1932 John H. Northrop – 1946 William H. Stein – 1972 Roald Hoffmann – 1981 Herbert Hauptman – 1985 Sidney Altman – 1989 William S. Knowles – 2001 Robert Grubbs – 2005 Robert Lefkowitz – 2012 Louis E. Brus – 2023 | Harold Urey – 1934* Martin Chalfie – 2008* Martin Karplus – 2013 Joachim Frank – 2017* Louis E. Brus$^†$ – 2023* | Willard Libby – 1960 Luis Leloir – 1970 |
| Physiology or Medicine (23) | Hermann J. Muller – 1946 Edward C. Kendall – 1950 Dickinson Richards – 1956 Joshua Lederberg – 1958 Konrad Bloch – 1964 George Wald – 1967 Konrad Lorenz – 1973 Baruch Blumberg – 1976 Baruj Benacerraf – 1980 Harold Varmus – 1989 Louis Ignarro – 1998 Richard Axel – 2004 | Thomas H. Morgan – 1933 André Cournand – 1956* Dickinson Richards$^†$ – 1956* Eric Kandel – 2000* Richard Axel$^†$ – 2004* James Rothman – 2013 | Hermann J. Muller$^†$ – 1946 Joshua Lederberg$^†$ – 1958 Konrad Bloch$^†$ – 1964 Salvador Luria – 1969 Baruch Blumberg$^†$ – 1976 Carleton Gajdusek – 1976 Daniel Nathans – 1978 Baruj Benacerraf$^†$ – 1980 Sune Bergström – 1982 Donnall Thomas – 1990 Linda Buck – 2004 David Julius – 2021 |
| Economics (17) | Simon Kuznets – 1971 Kenneth Arrow – 1972 Milton Friedman – 1976 Robert Fogel – 1993 William Vickrey – 1996 Robert C. Merton – 1997 Alvin Roth – 2012 | George Stigler – 1982 Gary Becker – 1992 William Vickrey$^†$ – 1996* Robert Mundell – 1999* James Heckman – 2000 Joseph Stiglitz – 2001* Edmund Phelps – 2006* | Milton Friedman$^†$ – 1976 Franco Modigliani – 1985 Robert Solow – 1987 Joseph Stiglitz$^†$ – 2001 David Card – 2021 Joshua Angrist – 2021 |
| Literature (6) | Louise Glück – 2020 | Orhan Pamuk – 2006 | Gabriela Mistral – 1945 Joseph Brodsky – 1987 Nadine Gordimer – 1991 Derek Walcott – 1992 Orhan Pamuk$^†$ – 2006 |
| Peace (8) | Theodore Roosevelt – 1906 Nicholas Butler – 1931 Barack Obama – 2009 | Nicholas Butler$^†$ – 1931 | Elie Wiesel – 1986 Al Gore – 2007 Liu Xiaobo – 2010 Leymah Gbowee – 2011 Maria Ressa – 2021 |

## Nobel laureates by category
### Nobel laureates in Physics

Nobel Laureates in Physics :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Robert Millikan | 1923 | PhD |
| 2 | Enrico Fermi | 1938 | Professor |
| 3 | Isidor Rabi | 1944 | PhD; Professor |
| 4 | Hideki Yukawa | 1949 | Professor |
| 5 | Polykarp Kusch | 1955 | Professor |
| 6 | Willis Lamb | 1955 | Professor |
| 7 | Tsung-Dao Lee | 1957 | Professor |
| 8 | Emilio Segrè | 1959 | Visitor (1935, 1936) |
| 9 | Maria Mayer | 1963 | Researcher (1942–1945); Manhattan Project (1939–1945) |
| 10 | Charles Townes | 1964 | Professor |
| 11 | Julian Schwinger | 1965 | BA, PhD |
| 12 | Hans Bethe | 1967 | Visiting Professor (Spring 1941, 1948) |
| 13 | Murray Gell-Mann | 1969 | Visiting Associate Professor (Fall 1954) |
| 14 | Leon Cooper | 1972 | BA, MA, PhD |
| 15 | Aage Bohr | 1975 | Visiting Fellow (1949–1950) |
| 16 | James Rainwater | 1975 | MA, PhD; Professor |
| 17 | Samuel Ting | 1976 | Assistant Professor (1965–1967) and Instructor (1964–1965) |
| 18 | Arno Penzias | 1978 | MA, PhD |
| 19 | Steven Weinberg | 1979 | Instructor (1957–1959) |
| 20 | Val Fitch | 1980 | PhD |
| 21 | Arthur Schawlow | 1981 | Visiting Associate Professor (1960); Fellow and Research Associate (1949–1951) |
| 22 | Carlo Rubbia | 1984 | Research Fellow (1958–1959) |
| 23 | Leon Lederman | 1988 | MA, PhD; Professor |
| 24 | Melvin Schwartz | 1988 | BA, PhD; Professor; Research Associate |
| 25 | Jack Steinberger | 1988 | Professor |
| 26 | Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. | 1989 | BA, PhD; Associate Professor |
| 27 | Martin Perl | 1995 | PhD |
| 28 | Horst Störmer | 1998 | Professor |
| 29 | Daniel C. Tsui | 1998 | Adjunct Scientist |
| 30 | John C. Mather | 2006 | Lecturer (1975–1976) |
| 31 | Arthur Ashkin | 2018 | BA |
| 32 | Giorgio Parisi | 2021 | Researcher (1973–1974) |
| 33 | John Clauser | 2022 | MA, PhD |

### Nobel laureates in Chemistry

Nobel Laureates in Chemistry :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Irving Langmuir | 1932 | BS |
| 2 | Harold Urey | 1934 | Professor |
| 3 | John H. Northrop | 1946 | BS, MA, PhD |
| 4 | Willard Libby | 1960 | Head, Chemistry Division of the Columbia University branch of the Manhattan Project (1942–1945) |
| 5 | Luis Leloir | 1970 | Researcher, College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia (1944–1945) |
| 6 | William H. Stein | 1972 | PhD |
| 7 | Roald Hoffmann | 1981 | BA |
| 8 | Herbert Hauptman | 1985 | MA |
| 9 | Sidney Altman | 1989 | Graduate student in physics |
| 10 | William S. Knowles | 2001 | PhD |
| 11 | Robert Grubbs | 2005 | PhD |
| 12 | Martin Chalfie | 2008 | Professor |
| 13 | Robert Lefkowitz | 2012 | BA, MD |
| 14 | Martin Karplus | 2013 | Professor |
| 15 | Joachim Frank | 2017 | Professor |
| 16 | Louis E. Brus | 2023 | PhD; Professor |

### Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine

Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Thomas H. Morgan | 1933 | Professor |
| 2 | Hermann J. Muller | 1946 | BA, MA, PhD; Instructor in Zoology (1918–1920) |
| 3 | Edward C. Kendall | 1950 | BS, MS, PhD |
| 4 | André Cournand | 1956 | Professor |
| 5 | Dickinson Richards | 1956 | MD; Professor |
| 6 | Joshua Lederberg | 1958 | BA; Research Assistant |
| 7 | Konrad Bloch | 1965 | PhD; Researcher |
| 8 | George Wald | 1967 | PhD |
| 9 | Salvador Luria | 1969 | Research Assistant in Surgical Bacteriology (1940–1942) |
| 10 | Konrad Lorenz | 1973 | Undergraduate attendee (1922, one semester of premedical studies) |
| 11 | Baruch Blumberg | 1976 | MD; Medical Resident |
| 12 | Carleton Gajdusek | 1976 | Medical Resident at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center |
| 13 | Daniel Nathans | 1978 | Intern (1954–1955) and Resident (1957–1959) in Medicine, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center |
| 14 | Baruj Benacerraf | 1980 | BS; Researcher |
| 15 | Sune Bergström | 1982 | Research Fellow (1940–1941) |
| 16 | Harold Varmus | 1989 | MD |
| 17 | Donnall Thomas | 1990 | Physician-in-chief, Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (1955–1963) |
| 18 | Louis Ignarro | 1998 | BA |
| 19 | Eric Kandel | 2000 | Professor |
| 20 | Linda Buck | 2004 | Postdoctoral Researcher (1980–1984) |
| 21 | Richard Axel | 2004 | BA; Professor |
| 22 | James Rothman | 2013 | Professor |
| 23 | David Julius | 2021 | Postdoctoral Researcher (1984–1990) |

### Nobel Memorial Prize laureates in Economics

Nobel Memorial Prize Laureates in Economics :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Simon Kuznets | 1971 | BS, MA, PhD |
| 2 | Kenneth Arrow | 1972 | MA, PhD |
| 3 | Milton Friedman | 1976 | PhD; Visiting Professor |
| 4 | George Stigler | 1982 | Professor |
| 5 | Franco Modigliani | 1985 | Instructor at Bard College (1942–1944) |
| 6 | Robert Solow | 1987 | Research Fellow (1949–1950) |
| 7 | Gary Becker | 1992 | Professor |
| 8 | Robert Fogel | 1993 | MA |
| 9 | William Vickrey | 1996 | MA, PhD; Professor |
| 10 | Robert C. Merton | 1997 | BS |
| 11 | Robert Mundell | 1999 | Professor |
| 12 | James Heckman | 2000 | Associate Professor |
| 13 | Joseph Stiglitz | 2001 | Professor; Stern Visiting Professor |
| 14 | Edmund Phelps | 2006 | Professor |
| 15 | Alvin Roth | 2012 | BS |
| 16 | David Card | 2021 | Visiting Professor (1990–1991) |
| 17 | Joshua Angrist | 2021 | Visiting Professor (2018) |

### Nobel laureates in Literature

Nobel Laureates in Literature :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Gabriela Mistral | 1945 | Visiting Professor at Barnard College (1930–1931) |
| 2 | Joseph Brodsky | 1987 | Adjunct Professor (1978–1985) |
| 3 | Nadine Gordimer | 1991 | Adjunct Professor (1971–1972, 1976–1978, 1983) |
| 4 | Derek Walcott | 1992 | Visiting Professor (1979, 1981–1983, 1984) |
| 5 | Orhan Pamuk | 2006 | Professor; Visiting Scholar |
| 6 | Louise Glück | 2020 | Undergraduate attendee |

### Nobel Peace Prize laureates

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates :
| No. | Name | Year | Affiliation with Columbia University |
| 1 | Theodore Roosevelt | 1906 | Law student |
| 2 | Nicholas Butler | 1931 | BA, MA, PhD; Professor; President |
| 3 | Elie Wiesel | 1986 | Visiting Professor at Barnard College (1997–1999) |
| 4 | Al Gore | 2007 | Visiting Professor (2001) |
| 5 | Barack Obama | 2009 | BA |
| 6 | Liu Xiaobo | 2010 | Visiting Scholar (1988–1989) |
| 7 | Leymah Gbowee | 2011 | Distinguished Fellow in Social Justice at Barnard College (2013–2014) |
| 8 | Maria Ressa | 2021 | Professor |

## Some visitors not qualified as faculty members

Visiting positions such as the "Global Fellowship" of SIPA and "Ernest Kempton Adams (EKA) Lectureship" at Columbia do not require employment-level duties, and thus are excluded from this list. The EKA Fund was established in 1904, enabling Columbia to invite scientists to deliver a series of public lectures.
Affiliates during the Manhattan Project, the scientific research project which developed the first nuclear weapons, who specifically worked for the military are also excluded from this list.
Some visitors not qualified as faculty members :
| Name | Nobel Prize | Year | Role in Columbia University |
| Hendrik Lorentz | Physics | 1902 | EKA Lecturer about a month in the spring of 1906; Lorentz began his lectures on March 23, and gave his final lecture on April 27; later book Theory of Electrons was based on a course of lectures delivered during that period |
| Wilhelm Wien | Physics | 1911 | EKA Lecturer (1913); delivered six public lectures in April 1913 |
| Max Planck | Physics | 1918 | EKA Lecturer (1909); delivered eight public lectures in the spring of 1909 |
| Walter Brattain | Physics | 1956 | Physicist (1941–1943) at the Division of War Research under National Defense Research Committee, working on magnetic detection of submarines |
| William Shockley | Physics | 1956 | Research Director (1942–1944) of the Antisubmarine Warfare Operations Research Group (set up by the US Navy Department at Columbia) for military projects |
| John van Vleck | Physics | 1977 | Visiting lecturer for summer school (1934) |
| Kofi Annan | Peace | 2001 | Global Fellow (Spring 2009), School of International and Public Affairs, for public lectures and seminars |