The Award of Merit is the Council's highest award given to an individual for exemplary achievement in the field of engineering, pure or applied natural science, or an educator in one of more of these fields, either American or foreign.
The nominee must have unquestioned integrity and have displayed initiative, inventiveness, exceptional industry, individuality, cooperativeness, and leadership, resulting in a preeminently high measure of accomplishment in the field of the nominee's activities, according to the judgment of the associates of the nominee and other specialists in the same field. The nominee must be of such stature and renown to continue the prestige and purpose of the award.
Since 1952, ACEC's Distinguished Award of Merit has been bestowed annually upon leaders in government, education, science, and business, including former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Herbert Hoover, along with General Lucius Clay, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, Carl Sagan, W. Edwards Deming, and Astronaut Neil Armstrong.
2026's recipient is Dr. Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders USA.
Submit a Nomination
To nominate an individual for the Award of Merit, please review the guidelines outlined here and then complete the online nomination form.
Please direct any questions regarding the Award of Merit or the nomination process to Megan Thrift. Nominations are due by Friday, December 12, 2025.
Distinguished Award of Merit Recipients
1952 | Clarence Decatur Howe |
1953 | Vannevar Bush |
1954 | Herbert Hoover |
1955 | Benjamin F. Fairless |
1956 | Ralph Budd |
1957 | Donald A. Quarles |
1958 | James Rhyne Killian, Jr. |
1959 | Dwight David Eisenhower |
1960 | Walker Lee Cisler |
1961 | Monroe Jackson Rathbone |
1962 | Lucius D. Clay |
1963 | Robert Moses |
1964 | Frederick Russell Kappel |
1965 | O. H. Ammann |
1966 | George William Burpee |
1967 | Scott Turner |
1968 | Lee Alvin Dubridge |
1969 | Peter Kiewit |
1970 | Donald Edward Marlowe |
1971 | Daniel Jackson Evans |
1972 | Charles Stark Draper |
1973 | Arthur Casagrande |
1974 | Simon Ramo |
1975 | Arthur J. Fox, Jr. |
1976 | William H. Pickering |
1977 | David Packard |
1978 | James A. Van Allen |
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| 1979 | Jerome B. Wiesner |
| 1980 | Lt. Gen. john W. Morris |
| 1983 | Admiral Hyman G. Rickover |
| 1984 | Paul E. Garver |
| 1985 | Commodore grace M. Hopper |
| 1986 | Carl Sagan |
| 1987 | T.Y. Lin |
| 1988 | Ralph B. Peck |
| 1989 | W. Edwards Deming |
| 1990 | Leon M. Lederman |
| 1991 | Robert A. Roe |
| 1992 | Jack K. Lemley |
| 1993 | Frank L. Dalton |
| 1994 | Don U. Deere |
| 1995 | Thomas R. Rutherford |
| 1996 | Albert A. Dorman |
| 1997 | Henry L. Michel |
| 1998 | Richard H. Stanley |
| 1999 | Lt. Gen Ret. Henry J. Hatch |
| 2000 | James W. Poirot |
| 2002 | Rodney E. Slater |
| 2003 | Jack B. Brooks |
| 2005 | Neil Armstrong |
| 2006 | Norman Mineta |
| 2008 | David P. Billington |
| 2009 | Ralph Peterson |
| 2015 | Robert Ballard |
| 2023 | Charlie Blackwell-Thompson |
| 2026 | Dr. Bernard Amadei |
