NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
National Medical of Science Ceremony
MENDEL MEDAL
Invited to join as a 2026 American Mathematical Society Fellow. Ceremony for 2026
Fellows to be recognized on January 6, 2026.
Awarded the American Academy of Sciences and Letters: 2025 Barry Prize. To be presented on Nov. 12,
2025.
2025 Dr. John Hope Franklin Award, from American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE),
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education; presented on April 30, 2025.
Prof. Gates received the AAPT 2023 Oersted Medal in January 2023 recognizing his outstanding,
widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics.
In August 2021 Prof. Gates was the recipient of the 2021 Andrew Gemant Award.
Elected as a Fellow of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) beginning May, 2021.
In March 2020 Prof. Gates was elected to the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Board of
Trustees.
In July 2018 Prof. Gates was elected to the American Physical Society (APS) presidential line. He
will serve as President during 2021.
Inducted into the Orange County Public Schools Hall of Fame, Orlando, Florida, on May 5, 2018.
Recipient of the 2014 Scientist of the Year Award from the Harvard Foundation.
On November 16, 2013, Prof. Gates was awarded the Mendel Medal by Villanova University “in
recognition of his influential work in supersymmetry, supergravity and string theory, as well as his
advocacy for science and science education in the United States and abroad.”
In 2013, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, becoming the first African-American
theoretical physicist so recognized in its 150-year history.
In 2013, President Obama awarded Prod. Gates the National Medal of Science, the highest recognition
given by the U.S. to scientists with the citation, ‘‘For his contribution to the mathematics of
supersymmetry in particle, field, and string theories and his extraordinary efforts to engage the
public on the beauty and wonder of fundamental physics.’’
In 2012, he was named a University System of Maryland Regents Professor, only the sixth person to
be so recognized since 1992.
Recipient of “2012 Outstanding Community Service Award”, KSEA UKC 2012, 11 Aug 2012.
Honorary Degrees:
Doctorate of Science, SUNY Old Westbury, May 21, 2025
Doctorate of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 23 May 2024 Doctor of Science,
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2023 Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering,
University of Johannesburg, 2021
Master of Arts, ad eundem, Brown University, 2018 Doctor of Science, Univ of Pennsylvania, 2016
Doctor of Sciences, Memorial Univ of Newfoundland, 2015
Doctorate of Engineering, NYU-Poly, 2013
Doctorate of Science, Morgan State University, 2010
Doctor of Science, University of Western Australia, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2010
Loyola University, Chicago, May 20, 2005
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, Georgetown University, May 25, 2001
A complete listing of Prof. Gates’ honors and awards may be found on his curriculum vitae.