Fulbrighters and Nobel Laureates
The Nobel Prize rewards “discoveries made for the betterment of humankind in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economics, and peace.” Since 1952, 62 Fulbright alumni have been recognized for their contributions to their fields, and Fulbright alumnus Linus Pauling made history by being one of only four people to have won two Nobel Prizes. The alumni listed below exemplify the Fulbright Program’s commitment to solving global challenges, fostering opportunities and excellence across fields of study, and seeking to make the world a better place. We recognize these Fulbright alumni and the contributions they have made to their fields while celebrating all Fulbrighters who work toward the betterment of humankind.
Peter Higgs
Theoretical Physicist
Visiting Scholar from the U.K., 1965
Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on subatomic particles, specifically the Higgs boson or “God particle.”
Rosalyn Yalow
Medical Physicist
U.S. Scholar to Portugal, 1977
Revolutionizing 20th-century medicine, Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D., was driven to discovery. Born in 1921 in the South Bronx, New York, she eventually became the second American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. That same year, she received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to Portugal.
Nobel Prize-winning Fulbright Alumni
Anton Zeilinger
Austria
Fulbright Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1976
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2022
Kip S. Thorne
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France, 1966
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2017
Juan Manuel Santos Rivera
Colombia
Fulbright Student at Tufts University, 1980
Nobel Peace Prize, 2016
John Michael Kosterlitz
United Kingdom
Fulbright Scholar at Cornell University, 1973
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2016
William C. Campbell
United Kingdom
Fulbright Student at the University of Wisconsin, 1953
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 2015
Sir John B. Gurdon
United Kingdom
Fulbright Scholar at California Institute of Technology, 1961
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 2012
Ei-ichi Negishi
Japan
Fulbright Student at the University of Pennsylvania, 1960
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2010
Ei-ichi Negishi
Japan
Fulbright Student at the University of Pennsylvania, 1960
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2010
Leonid Hurwicz
United States
Fulbright Scholar to India, 1965
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2007
Roy J. Glauber
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France, 1954
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2005
Riccardo Giacconi
Italy
Fulbright Student at Indiana University, 1956
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2002
George A. Akerlof
United States
Fulbright Scholar to India, 1967
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001
Alan G. MacDiarmid
New Zealand
Fulbright Student at University of Wisconsin, 1950
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2000
Erwin Neher
Germany
Fulbright Student at University ofWisconsin at Madison, 1966
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1991
Susumu Tonegawa
Japan
Fulbright Student at University of California, San Diego, 1963
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1987
Franco Modigliani
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1961
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1985
Niels Kaj Jerne
Denmark
Fulbright Scholar at California Institute of Technology, 1954
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1984
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France, 1966 and Greece, 1989
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1983
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France, 1966 and Greece, 1989
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1983
Philip W. Anderson
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Japan, 1953
Fulbright 75 Alumni Bio
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1977
Milton Friedman
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1953
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1976
Milton Friedman
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1953
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1976
Kenneth Arrow
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1995
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1972
Hannes Alfven
Sweden
Fulbright Scholar at University of Maryland, 1954
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1970
Lars Onsager
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1951
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1968
Robert Sanderson Mulliken
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1952
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1966
Charles Hard Townes
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France and Japan, 1955 and Europe, 1962
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1964
Eugene Wigner
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Mexico, 1959
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1963
Linus Pauling
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Yugoslavia 1988
Nobel Peace Prize, 1962 and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1954
Emilio Segre
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1950
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1959
Chen Ning Yang
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Brazil, Venezuela, Poland, Egypt, and Malaysia, 1974
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1957
Maria Ressa
United States
Fulbright Student to the Philippines, 1986
Nobel Peace Prize, 2021
Michael Rosbash
United States
Fulbright Student to France, 1965
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2017
David Thouless
United Kingdom
Fulbright Student at Cornell University, 1956
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2016
Bengt Holmström
Finland
Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University, 1974
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 2016
Peter Higgs
United Kingdom
Fulbright Scholar at the University of North Carolina, 1965
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2013
Peter A. Diamond
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1999
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2010
Oliver Williamson
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1999
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2009
Osamu Shimomura
Japan
Fulbright Scholar at Princeton University, 1960
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2008
Muhammad Yunus
Bangladesh
Fulbright Student at Vanderbilt University, 1965
Fulbright 75 Alumni Bio
Nobel Peace Prize, 2005
Aaron Ciechanover
Israel
Fulbright Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2004
Masatoshi Koshiba
Japan
Fulbright Student at University of Rochester, 1953
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2002
Joseph Stiglitz
United States
Fulbright Student to the U.K., 1969
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001
Douglass C. North
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Uruguay, 1990
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1993
Trygve Haavelmo
Norway
Fulbright Scholar at University of Chicago, 1957
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1989
James M. Buchanan
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Italy, 1955 and the U.K., 1961
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1986
Carlo Rubbia
Italy
Fulbright Student at Columbia University, 1958
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1984
William Alfred Fowler
United States
Fulbright Student to the U.K., 1954
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1983
John Vane
United Kingdom
Fulbright Scholar at Yale University, 1953
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1982
Roald Hoffmann
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Greece, 1991
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1981
Rosalyn S. Yalow
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Portugal, 1979
Nobel Laureate in Medicine,1977
Renato Dulbecco
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1957
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1975
Wassily Leontief
United States
Fulbright Scholar to France, 1961
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1973
Paul Samuelson
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Asia, 1972
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1970
Jan Tinbergen
Netherlands
Fulbright Travel Grant to Harvard University, 1956
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1969
Hans Bethe
United States
Fulbright Scholar to the U.K., 1955
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1967
Konrad Emil Bloch
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Mexico, 1959
Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, 1964
Giorgos Seferis
Greece
Fulbright Scholar at Princeton University, 1968
Nobel Laureate in Literature, 1963
John Steinbeck
United States
Fulbright Specialist to the Soviet Union, 1963
Nobel Laureate in Literature, 1962
James D. Watson
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Argentina, 1986
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1962
Joshua Lederberg
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Australia, 1957
Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1958
Felix Bloch
United States
Fulbright Scholar to Israel, 1959
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1952