Duke Members of the National Academy of Engineering
The greatest honor for an engineer in the U.S.
More than 30 Duke alumni and faculty have been elected since the academy’s founding in 1964.


Douglas C. Cameron
2025
For driving the chimerical development of a synthetic, biology-based, environmentally friendly bioprocess for biofuels, food security and industrial chemicals.
Class of 1979


Robert L. Clark Jr.
2022
For development of automated tools for rapidly identifying and indexing desirable genetic traits for next-generation seed and biotechnology product development
Dean of Engineering, 2007-2008
Kenneth C. Hall
2020
For development of unsteady aerodynamic and aeromechanics theories and analysis for internal and external aerodynamic flows

Ana Barros
2019
For contributions to understanding and prediction of precipitation dynamics and flood hazards in mountainous terrains
Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Distinguished Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2018-2021
Alec D. Gallimore
2019
For advanced spacecraft electric propulsion, especially Hall thruster technology

Vahid Tarokh
2019
For contributions to space-time coding and its applications to multi-antenna wireless communications

Blake S. Wilson
2017
For engineering development of the cochlear implant that bestows hearing to individuals with profound deafness
Class of 1974, Class of 2015NAE Russ Prize, 2015

William A. Hawkins III
2016
For leadership in biomedical engineering and translational medicine
Class of 1976
Kristina M. Johnson
2016
For development and deployment of liquid crystal on silicon display technologies, the basis for high speed optoelectronic 3D imaging
Dean of Engineering, 1999-2007
Jennifer L. West
2016
For developments in photothermal and theranostic therapies and bioabsorbed scaffolds for tissue regeneration
Fitzpatrick Family University Professor of Engineering, 2012-2021
Ingrid Daubechies
2015
For contributions to the mathematics and applications of wavelets
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Electrical & Computer Engineering, 2015-2024
Mark R. Wiesner
2015
For contributions to membrane technologies for water treatment and understanding of environmental behavior and risk of nanomaterials

M. Katherine Banks
2014
For contributions to phytoremediation of petroleum contamination, and for leadership in engineering education
Class of 1989
Fred Lee
2011
For contributions to high-frequency power conversion and systems integration technologies, education, industry alliances, and technology transfer
Class of 1972, Class of 1974
Frank L. Bowman
2009
For leadership in the design of nuclear-reactor propulsion plants to support the power requirements of evolving combat systems
Class of 1966, Class of 2003NAE Gibbs Brothers Medal, 2022

Robert L. Cook
2009
For building the motion picture industry’s standard rendering tool
Class of 1973
J. Turner Whitted
2009
For contributions to computer graphics, notably recursive raytracing
Class of 1969, Class of 1970
A. Robert Calderbank
2005
For leadership in communications research, from advances in algebraic coding theory to signal processing for wire-line and wireless modems

Edmund M. Clarke
2005
For contributions to the formal verification of hardware and software correctness
Class of 1968
Douglas M. Chapin
2002
For improvements in reliability and the prevention and mitigation of core damage accidents in nuclear reactors worldwide
Class of 1962
Joseph A. Yura
2000
For research and educational contributions on bracing and stability for steel structures
Class of 1959
Theodore C. Kennedy
1999
For leadership and innovation in advancing the nation’s construction industry
Class of 1952
Robert M. Koerner
1998
For design and use of geosynthetics in the constructed environment
Class of 1968
Charles H. Townes
1998
For development of the maser and laser
Class of 1937, Class of 1966NAE Simon Ramo Founders Award, 2000

Henry Petroski
1998
For books, articles, and lectures on engineering and the profession that have reached and influenced a wide range of audiences
Aleksander S. Vesic Distinguished Professor, 1993-2023
John H. Gibbons
1994
For leadership in a broad spectrum of initiatives toward the development and communication of national policies for technological issues
Class of 1954, Class of 1997NAE Arthur M. Bueche Award, 1998

Charles B. Duke
1993
For providing the theoretical foundations for developments in xerography
Class of 1959
Earl H. Dowell
1993
For contributions to aeroelasticity and structural dynamics, which provide continuing insights into the behavior of complex structural systems
Dean of Engineering, 1983-1999
Robert E. Fischell
1989
For pioneering contributions to satellite altitude control and for leadership and innovation in bringing aerospace technology to implantable biomedical devices
Class of 1951
Walter L. Brown
1986
For the discovery of semiconductor surface channels crucial in field-effect transistors, and for contributions to ion beam uses in semiconductor diagnostics and processing
Class of 1953
Robert Plonsey
1986
For the application of electromagnetic field theory to biology, and for distinguished leadership in the emerging profession of biomedical engineering
Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Engineering, -1996
John Cocke
1979
For leadership in high-performance computer design and contribution to the field of optimizing compilers
Class of 1945, Class of 1956, Class of 1988
Robert R. Everett
1979
For pioneering of digital computers and their application to real-time control system
Class of 1942, Class of 1992
Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
1976
For contributions to computer system design and the development of academic programs in computer sciences
Class of 1953
Charles H. Holley
1976
For pioneering contributions to the evolution of turbine-generator design
Class of 1941
Lewis M. Branscomb
1974
For leadership in advancing national and international science and technology
Class of 1945, Class of 1971NAE Arthur M. Bueche Award, 1987