# Hector Medal

The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different sciences – currently there are three: chemical sciences; physical sciences; mathematical and information sciences. It is given to a researcher who "has undertaken work of great scientific or technological merit and has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the particular branch of science." It was previously rotated through more fields of science – in 1918 they were: botany, chemistry, ethnology, geology, physics (including mathematics and astronomy), zoology (including animal physiology). For a few years it was awarded biennially – it was not awarded in 2000, 2002 or 2004.
In 1991 it was overtaken by the Rutherford Medal as the highest award given by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
The obverse of the medal bears the head of James Hector and the reverse a Māori snaring a huia. The last confirmed sighting of a living huia predates the award of the medal by three years.

## Recipients

| Year | Recipient | Field |
| 1912 | Leonard Cockayne | Botany |
| 1913 | Thomas Easterfield | Chemistry |
| 1914 | Elsdon Best | Ethnology |
| 1915 | Patrick Marshall | Geology |
| 1916 | Ernest Rutherford | Physics |
| 1917 | Charles Chilton | Zoology |
| 1918 | Thomas Cheeseman | Botany |
| 1919 | Philip Robertson | Chemistry |
| 1920 | Percy Smith | Ethnology |
| 1921 | Robert Speight | Geology |
| 1922 | Coleridge Farr | Physics |
| 1923 | George Hudson | Zoology |
| 1924 | Donald Petrie | Botany |
| 1925 | Bernard Aston | Chemistry |
| 1926 | Harry Skinner | Ethnology |
| 1927 | Charles Cotton | Geology |
| 1928 | Duncan Sommerville | Mathematics |
| 1929 | G. M. Thomson | Zoology |
| 1930 | John Holloway | Botany |
| 1931 | William Percival Evans | Chemistry |
| 1932 | Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck) | Ethnology |
| 1933 | John Marwick, Noel Benson | Geology |
| 1934 | Charles Ernest Weatherburn | Mathematics |
| 1935 | William Benham | Zoology |
| 1936 | Walter Oliver | Botany |
| 1937 | John Reader Hosking | Chemistry |
| 1938 | Herbert Williams | Ethnology |
| 1939 | Arthur Bartrum | Geology |
| 1940 | Donald Bannerman Macleod | Physics |
| 1941 | Harold John Finlay | Zoology |
| 1942 | Harry Allan | Botany |
| 1943 | Bob Briggs | Chemistry |
| 1944 | Johannes Andersen | Ethnology |
| 1945 | John Henderson | Geology |
| 1946 | Henry Forder | Mathematics |
| 1947 | Baden Powell | Zoology |
| 1948 | G. H. Cunningham | Botany |
| 1949 | Robert Anthony Robinson | Chemistry |
| 1950 | Ernest Beaglehole | Ethnology |
| 1951 | Francis John Turner | Geology |
| 1952 | Keith Bullen | Geophysics |
| 1953 | Lance Richdale | Zoology |
| 1954 | Lucy Cranwell | Botany |
| 1955 | Brian Shorland | Chemistry |
| 1956 | Roger Duff | Ethnology |
| 1957 | Harold Wellman | Geology |
| 1958 | Alister McLellan | Mathematics |
| 1959 | Barry Fell | Zoology |
| 1960 | Ted Chamberlain | Botany |
| 1961 | Harry Bloom | Chemistry |
| 1962 | Ralph Piddington | Ethnology |
| 1963 | Charles Fleming | Geology |
| 1964 | Derek Frank Lawden | Mathematics |
| 1965 | Richard Dell | Zoology |
| 1966 | Jack Holloway | Botany |
| 1967 | Con Cambie | Chemistry |
| 1968 | Gilbert Archey | Ethnology |
| 1969 | Doug Coombs | Geology |
| 1970 | Brian Wybourne | Physics |
| 1971 | Ira Cunningham | Zoology |
| 1972 | Ted Bollard | Botany |
| 1973 | Michael Hartshorn | Chemistry |
| 1974 | Herbert Dudley Purves | Medicine |
| 1975 | Robert Hayes | Geology |
| 1976 | Jack Dodd | Physics |
| 1977 | Cam Reid | Zoology |
| 1978 | Richard Matthews | Botany |
| 1979 | Leon Phillips | Chemistry |
| 1980 | Graham Liggins | Medicine |
| 1981 | Trevor Hatherton | Geology |
| 1982 | Roy Kerr | Mathematics |
| 1983 | Ray Forster | Zoology |
| 1984 | Rod Bieleski | Botany |
| 1985 | Peter de la Mare | Chemistry |
| 1986 | Robin Carrell | Medicine |
| 1987 | Jim Ellis | Chemistry |
| 1988 | Dan Walls | Physics |
| 1989 | Patricia Bergquist | Zoology |
| 1990 | Peter Wardle | Botany |
| 1991 | Warren Roper | Chemistry |
| 1992 | Roger Green | Ethnology |
| 1993 | Dick Walcott | Geology |
| 1994 | Geoff Stedman | Physics |
| 1995 | Bob Jolly | Zoology |
| 1996 | John C. Butcher | Mathematics |
| 1997 | Ted Baker | Chemistry |
| 1998 | Paul Callaghan, Jeff Tallon | Physics |
| 1999 | George Seber | Statistics |
| 2000 | No award | No award |
| 2001 | Peter Schwerdtfeger | Chemistry |
| 2002 | No award | No award |
| 2003 | Ken MacKenzie | Materials science |
| 2004 | No award | No award |
| 2005 | Ian H. Witten | Computer science |
| 2006 | Richard Furneaux | Chemistry |
| 2007 | Timothy Haskell | Physics |
| 2008 | Gaven Martin | Mathematics |
| 2009 | Peter Steel | Chemistry |
| 2010 | Grant Williams | Physics |
| 2011 | Rod Downey | Mathematics |
| 2012 | Margaret Brimble | Chemistry |
| 2013 | Richard Blaikie | Physics |
| 2014 | Marston Conder | Mathematics |
| 2015 | Ian Brown | Chemistry |
| 2016 | Stéphane Coen | Physics |
| 2017 | Sally Brooker | Chemistry |
| 2018 | Matt Visser | Mathematical physics |
| 2019 | Jadranka Travaš-Sejdić | Polymers and nanomaterials |
| 2020 | Eamonn O’Brien | Mathematical theory of groups |
| 2021 | Eric Le Ru | Chemical physics |
| 2022 | Murray Cox | Population genetic theory |
| 2023 | Niels Kjærgaard | Physics |