national news
President Trump Presents National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation
October 8, 2026
The White House -
Today at the Science: A New Golden Age Summit, President Donald J. Trump presented National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation, our nation’s highest honors for exemplary achievement and leadership in science and technology, to six of America’s greatest living innovators.
Since 1963, the President of the United States has bestowed the National Medal of Science on those deserving of special recognition for their outstanding contributions to science in service of the United States. Since it was first awarded in 1985, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation has recognized American innovators whose vision, intellect, creativity, and determination have strengthened America’s economy and improved our quality of life.
President Trump is committed to restoring U.S. global scientific and technological leadership for a New Golden Age, from harnessing super intelligence for scientific discovery to ushering in a nuclear renaissance; from ensuring American space superiority to strengthening America’s quantum advantage.
These medalists have pioneered breakthroughs in science and engineering for the new age of super intelligence, from fundamental advances in general-purpose parallel computing and semiconductor design to engineering and business leadership in building the foundations of hyperscale infrastructure in the U.S., around the world, and even into space. Their work has advanced American global technology leadership for the 21st Century and laid the foundation for a new Golden Age of Science.
The recipients are listed below.
Recipients of the National Medal of Science
- Elon Musk – “For engineering achievements of extraordinary ambition and scale that have pushed the frontiers of space exploration, intelligent systems, communications, and beyond, renewing American technological leadership and opening a new chapter in American manufacturing.”
- Sergey Brin – “For the development of foundational algorithms for information retrieval and data processing that revolutionized how the world accesses information across science, commerce, and in the course of everyday life.”
- Jensen Huang – “For advancing the graphics processing unit into a general-purpose computing architecture through innovations in processor design and software, transforming massively parallel computation and powering breakthroughs in scientific computing and super intelligence.”
- Lisa Su – “For a lifetime of leadership in semiconductor engineering and high-performance computing through innovations in processor architecture and chiplet-based integration that powered the world’s first exascale supercomputer and opened new frontiers in computational performance.”
Recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation
- Michael Dell – “For advancing a vision of widespread adoption of personal and enterprise computing; for his technical and business management skills building a worldwide technology company; and for his support for the next generation of American scientists, engineers, and technologists.”
- Satya Nadella – “For his transformative leadership of a critical American technology company, which led to its rejuvenation for a new era of cloud computing, and for his construction of the hyperscale infrastructure that enabled the training and global deployment of American super intelligence.”
“Each of these medalists has transformed their field or industry, laying the foundations for technologies we already can barely imagine living without,” said Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “While we in government work to deliver the efforts a New Golden Age of Science will require, we know that scientific progress and technological innovation depend on the insight and character of individuals. Innovators like these six awardees are the architects of the future.”
About the Science: A New Golden Age Summit:
Science: A New Golden Age, released in July 2026 by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, is the first comprehensive rethinking of the U.S. science and technology enterprise since Vannevar Bush’s 1945 Science: The Endless Frontier.
The report observes significant changes to how scientific discovery happens today, particularly the increased role of industry in driving R&D and the close integration of applied and foundational research. It provides concrete recommendations for how government, industry, academia, and philanthropy can seize the opportunities presented by these changes to accelerate scientific discovery and empower the Nation’s best and brightest scientists. Core recommendations include strengthening support for early-career scientists, reviving the national pursuit of ambitious scientific missions, launching new funding and organizational models for transformative research, building the metascience infrastructure to continuously improve the research enterprise, and scaling SI-driven scientific discovery through the Genesis Mission.
The Science: A New Golden Age Summit convenes leading scientists and innovators to examine these changes and translate the report’s ideas into the next chapter of American scientific progress. Throughout the day, the Trump Administration will provide major announcements, in coordination with private sector partners and research institutions, to realize the vision of Science: A New Golden Age and the Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science.
