American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals

Two American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals are awarded each year by the academy for distinguished achievement. The two awards are taken in rotation from these categories:
 * Belles Lettres and Criticism, and Painting;
 * Biography and Music;
 * Fiction and Sculpture;
 * History and Architecture, including Landscape Architecture;
 * Poetry and Music;
 * Drama and Graphic Art.

The Academy voted in 1915 to establish an additional Gold Medal for "special distinction" to be given for the entire work of the recipient who is not a member of the academy. The first of these occasional lifetime achievement gold medals was awarded in the next year to former Harvard President, Charles Eliot.

Awards in individual categories are listed below (in alphabetical order) followed by a list of all prizes in reverse chronological order:

Special distinction

 * 1916 &mdash; Charles William Eliot

Architecture

 * 2008 &mdash; Richard Meier
 * 2002 &mdash; Frank O. Gehry
 * 1996 &mdash; Philip Johnson
 * 1999 &mdash; Kevin Roche
 * 1984 &mdash; Gordon Bunshaft
 * 1979 &mdash; I. M. Pei
 * 1973 &mdash; Louis I. Kahn
 * 1968 &mdash; R. Buckminster Fuller
 * 1963 &mdash; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
 * 1958 &mdash; Henry R. Shepley
 * 1953 &mdash; Frank Lloyd Wright
 * 1949 &mdash; Frederick Law Olmsted
 * 1940 &mdash; William Adams Delano
 * 1930 &mdash; Charles Adams Platt
 * 1921 &mdash; Cass Gilbert
 * 1912 &mdash; William Rutherford Mead

Belles lettres, criticism, essays

 * 2005 &mdash; Joan Didion
 * 1999 &mdash; Harold Bloom
 * 1993 &mdash; Elizabeth Hardwick
 * 1987 &mdash; Jacques Barzun
 * 1981 &mdash; Malcolm Cowley
 * 1975 &mdash; Kenneth Burke
 * 1965 &mdash; Walter Lippmann
 * 1960 &mdash; E. B. White
 * 1955 &mdash; Edmund Wilson
 * 1950 &mdash; H. L. Mencken
 * 1946 &mdash; Van Wyck Brooks
 * 1935 &mdash; Agnes Repplier
 * 1925 &mdash; William Crary Brownell
 * 1916 &mdash; John Burroughs

Biography

 * 2006 &mdash; Robert Caro
 * 2000 &mdash; R. W. B. Lewis
 * 1994 &mdash; Walter Jackson Bate
 * 1988 &mdash; James Thomas Flexner
 * 1982 &mdash; Francis Steegmuller
 * 1976 &mdash; Leon Edel

Drama

 * 2010 &mdash; Romulus Linney
 * 2004 &mdash; John Guare
 * 1998 &mdash; Horton Foote
 * 1992 &mdash; Sam Shepard
 * 1986 &mdash; Sidney Kingsley
 * 1980 &mdash; Edward Albee
 * 1969 &mdash; Tennessee Williams
 * 1964 &mdash; Lillian Hellman
 * 1959 &mdash; Arthur Miller
 * 1954 &mdash; Maxwell Anderson
 * 1941 &mdash; Robert E. Sherwood
 * 1931 &mdash; William Gillette
 * 1922 &mdash; Eugene O'Neill
 * 1913 &mdash; Augustus Thomas

Fiction, novel, short story

 * 2007 &mdash; John Updike
 * 2001 &mdash; Philip Roth
 * 1995 &mdash; William Maxwell
 * 1989 &mdash; Isaac Bashevis Singer
 * 1982 &mdash; Bernard Malamud
 * 1978 &mdash; Peter Taylor
 * 1977 &mdash; Saul Bellow
 * 1972 &mdash; Eudora Welty
 * 1962 &mdash; William Faulkner
 * 1957 &mdash; John Dos Passos
 * 1952 &mdash; Thornton Wilder
 * 1944 &mdash; Willa Cather
 * 1933 &mdash; Booth Tarkington
 * 1929 &mdash; Edith Wharton
 * 1924 &mdash; Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer


 * 1915 &mdash; William Dean Howells

Graphic art

 * 1998 &mdash; Frank Stella
 * 1992 &mdash; David Levine
 * 1986 &mdash; Jasper Johns
 * 1980 &mdash; Peggy Bacon
 * 1974 &mdash; Saul Steinberg
 * 1969 &mdash; Leonard Baskin
 * 1964 &mdash; Ben Shahn
 * 1959 &mdash; George Grosz
 * 1954 &mdash; Reginald Marsh
 * 1948 &mdash; Bruce Rogers

History

 * 2008 &mdash; Edmund S. Morgan
 * 2002 &mdash; John Hope Franklin
 * 1996 &mdash; Peter Gay
 * 1990 &mdash; C. Vann Woodward
 * 1984 &mdash; George F. Kennan
 * 1972 &mdash; Henry Steele Commager
 * 1967 &mdash; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
 * 1957 &mdash; Allan Nevins
 * 1952 &mdash; Carl Sandburg
 * 1948 &mdash; Charles Austin Beard
 * 1937 &mdash; Charles M. Andrews
 * 1927 &mdash; William M. Sloane
 * 1918 &mdash; William Roscoe Thayer
 * 1910 &mdash; James Ford Rhodes

Music

 * 2006 &mdash; Stephen Sondheim
 * 2003 &mdash; Ned Rorem
 * 2000 &mdash; Lukas Foss
 * 1997 &mdash; Gunther Schuller
 * 1994 &mdash; Hugo Weisgall
 * 1991 &mdash; David Diamond
 * 1988 &mdash; Milton Babbitt
 * 1985 &mdash; Leonard Bernstein
 * 1982 &mdash; William Schuman
 * 1976 &mdash; Samuel Barber
 * 1971 &mdash; Elliott Carter
 * 1966 &mdash; Virgil Thomson
 * 1961 &mdash; Rogers H. Sessions
 * 1956 &mdash; Aaron Copland
 * 1951 &mdash; Igor Stravinsky
 * 1947 &mdash; John Alden Carpenter
 * 1942 &mdash; Ernest Bloch
 * 1938 &mdash; Walter Damrosch
 * 1928 &mdash; George W. Chadwick
 * 1919 &mdash; Charles Martin Loeffler

Painting

 * 2005 &mdash; Jane Freilicher
 * 1999 &mdash; Robert Rauschenberg
 * 1993 &mdash; Richard Diebenkorn
 * 1987 &mdash; Isabel Bishop
 * 1981 &mdash; Raphael Soyer
 * 1975 &mdash; Willem De Kooning
 * 1970 &mdash; Georgia O'Keeffe
 * 1965 &mdash; Wyeth
 * 1960 &mdash; Charles E. Burchfield
 * 1955 &mdash; Edward Hopper
 * 1950 &mdash; John Sloan
 * 1942 &mdash; Cecilia Beaux
 * 1932 &mdash; Gari Melchers
 * 1925 &mdash; Cecilia Beaux
 * 1923 &mdash; Edwin Howland Blashfield
 * 1914 &mdash; John Singer Sargent

Poetry

 * 2009 &mdash; Mark Strand
 * 2003 &mdash; W. S. Merwin
 * 1997 &mdash; John Ashbery
 * 1991 &mdash; Richard Wilbur
 * 1985 &mdash; Robert Penn Warren
 * 1979 &mdash; Archibald MacLeish
 * 1973 &mdash; John Crowe Ransom
 * 1968 &mdash; W. H. Auden
 * 1963 &mdash; William Carlos Williams
 * 1958 &mdash; Conrad Aiken
 * 1953 &mdash; Marianne Moore
 * 1939 &mdash; Robert Frost
 * 1929 &mdash; Edwin Arlington Robinson
 * 1911 &mdash; James Whitcomb Riley

Sculpture

 * 2007 &mdash; Martin Puryear
 * 2001 &mdash; Richard Serra
 * 1995 &mdash; George Rickey
 * 1989 &mdash; Louise Bourgeois
 * 1983 &mdash; Louise Nevelson
 * 1977 &mdash; Isamu Noguchi
 * 1971 &mdash; Alexander Calder
 * 1966 &mdash; Jacques Lipchitz
 * 1961 &mdash; William Zorach
 * 1956 &mdash; Ivan Mestrovic
 * 1951 &mdash; James Earle Fraser
 * 1945 &mdash; Paul Manship
 * 1936 &mdash; George Grey Barnard
 * 1930 &mdash; Anna Hyatt Huntington
 * 1926 &mdash; Herbert Adams
 * 1917 &mdash; Daniel Chester French
 * 1909 &mdash; Augustus Saint-Gaudens

All winners

 * 2008 &mdash; Richard Meier, architecture.


 * 2008 &mdash; Edmund S. Morgan, history.


 * 2007 &mdash; John Updike, Fiction.


 * 2007 &mdash; Martin Puryear, Sculpture.
 * 2006 &mdash; Robert Caro, Biography.


 * 2006 &mdash; Stephen Sondheim, Music.


 * 2005 &mdash; Joan Didion, Belles Lettres and Criticism.


 * 2005 &mdash; Jane Freilicher, Painting.


 * 2004 &mdash; John Guare, Drama.


 * 2004 &mdash; Chuck Close, Graphic Art.


 * 2003 &mdash; W. S. Merwin, Poetry.


 * 2003 &mdash; Ned Rorem, Music.


 * 2002 &mdash; Frank O. Gehry, Architecture


 * 2002 &mdash; John Hope Franklin, History


 * 2001 &mdash; Philip Roth, Fiction


 * 2001 &mdash; Richard Serra, Sculpture


 * 2000 &mdash; R. W. B. Lewis, Biography


 * 2000 &mdash; Lukas Foss, Music


 * 1999 &mdash; Robert Rauschenberg, Painting


 * 1999 &mdash; Harold Bloom, Belles Lettres
 * 1998 &mdash; Horton Foote, Drama


 * 1998 &mdash; Frank Stella, Graphic Art


 * 1997 &mdash; John Ashbery, Poetry


 * 1997 &mdash; Gunther Schuller, Music


 * 1996 &mdash; Peter Gay, History


 * 1996 &mdash; Philip Johnson, Architecture


 * 1995 &mdash; William Maxwell, Fiction


 * 1995 &mdash; George Rickey, Sculpture


 * 1994 &mdash; Walter Jackson Bate, Biography


 * 1994 &mdash; Hugo Weisgall, Music


 * 1993 &mdash; Richard Diebenkorn, Painting


 * 1993 &mdash; Elizabeth Hardwick, Belles Lettres/Criticism


 * 1992 &mdash; David Levine, Graphic Art


 * 1992 &mdash; Sam Shepard, Drama


 * 1991 &mdash; David Diamond, Music


 * 1991 &mdash; Richard Wilbur, Poetry


 * 1999 &mdash; Kevin Roche, Architecture


 * 1990 &mdash; C. Vann Woodward, History


 * 1989 &mdash; Louise Bourgeois, Sculpture


 * 1989 &mdash; Isaac Bashevis Singer, Fiction


 * 1988 &mdash; Milton Babbitt, Music


 * 1988 &mdash; James Thomas Flexner, Biography


 * 1987 &mdash; Jacques Barzun, Belles Lettres


 * 1987 &mdash; Isabel Bishop, Painting


 * 1986 &mdash; Jasper Johns, Graphic Art


 * 1986 &mdash; Sidney Kingsley, Drama


 * 1985 &mdash; Leonard Bernstein, Music


 * 1985 &mdash; Robert Penn Warren, Poetry


 * 1984 &mdash; Gordon Bunshaft, Architecture


 * 1984 &mdash; George F. Kennan, History


 * 1983 &mdash; Louise Nevelson, Sculpture


 * 1982 &mdash; William Schuman, Music


 * 1982 &mdash; Francis Steegmuller, Biography


 * 1982 &mdash; Bernard Malamud, Fiction


 * 1981 &mdash; Malcolm Cowley, Belles Lettres


 * 1981 &mdash; Raphael Soyer, Painting


 * 1980 &mdash; Edward Albee, Drama


 * 1980 &mdash; Peggy Bacon, Graphic Art


 * 1979 &mdash; Archibald MacLeish, Poetry


 * 1979 &mdash; I. M. Pei, Architecture


 * 1978 &mdash; Peter Taylor, Short Story


 * 1978 &mdash; Barbara W. Tuchman, History


 * 1977 &mdash; Saul Bellow, Novel


 * 1977 &mdash; Isamu Noguchi, Sculpture


 * 1976 &mdash; Samuel Barber, Music


 * 1976 &mdash; Leon Edel, Biography


 * 1975 &mdash; Kenneth Burke, Belles Lettres


 * 1975 &mdash; Willem De Kooning, Painting


 * 1974 &mdash; Saul Steinberg, Graphic Art


 * 1973 &mdash; Louis I. Kahn, Architecture


 * 1973 &mdash; John Crowe Ransom, Poetry


 * 1972 &mdash; Henry Steele Commager, History


 * 1972 &mdash; Eudora Welty, Novel


 * 1971 &mdash; Alexander Calder, Sculpture


 * 1971 &mdash; Elliott Carter, Music


 * 1970 &mdash; Lewis Mumford, Belles Lettres


 * 1970 &mdash; Georgia O'Keeffe, Painting


 * 1969 &mdash; Leonard Baskin, Graphic Art


 * 1969 &mdash; Tennessee Williams, Drama


 * 1968 &mdash; W. H. Auden, Poetry


 * 1968 &mdash; R. Buckminster Fuller, Architecture


 * 1967 &mdash; Katherine Anne Porter, Fiction


 * 1967 &mdash; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., History


 * 1966 &mdash; Jacques Lipchitz, Sculpture


 * 1966 &mdash; Virgil Thomson, Music


 * 1965 &mdash; Walter Lippmann, Essays


 * 1965 &mdash; Wyeth, Painting


 * 1964 &mdash; Lillian Hellman, Drama


 * 1964 &mdash; Ben Shahn, Graphic Art


 * 1963 &mdash; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architecture


 * 1963 &mdash; William Carlos Williams, Poetry


 * 1962 &mdash; William Faulkner, Fiction


 * 1962 &mdash; Samuel Eliot Morison, History


 * 1961 &mdash; Rogers H. Sessions, Music


 * 1961 &mdash; William Zorach, Sculpture


 * 1960 &mdash; Charles E. Burchfield, Painting


 * 1960 &mdash; E. B. White, Essays


 * 1959 &mdash; George Grosz, Graphic Art


 * 1959 &mdash; Arthur Miller, Drama


 * 1958 &mdash; Conrad Aiken, Poetry


 * 1958 &mdash; Henry R. Shepley, Architecture


 * 1957 &mdash; John Dos Passos, Fiction


 * 1957 &mdash; Allan Nevins, History


 * 1956 &mdash; Aaron Copland, Music


 * 1956 &mdash; Ivan Mestrovic, Sculpture


 * 1955 &mdash; Edward Hopper, Painting


 * 1955 &mdash; Edmund Wilson, Essays


 * 1954 &mdash; Maxwell Anderson, Drama


 * 1954 &mdash; Reginald Marsh, Graphic Art


 * 1953 &mdash; Marianne Moore, Poetry


 * 1953 &mdash; Frank Lloyd Wright, Architecture


 * 1952 &mdash; Carl Sandburg, History


 * 1952 &mdash; Thornton Wilder, Fiction


 * 1951 &mdash; James Earle Fraser, Sculpture


 * 1951 &mdash; Igor Stravinsky, Music


 * 1950 &mdash; H. L. Mencken, Essays


 * 1950 &mdash; John Sloan, Painting


 * 1949 &mdash; Frederick Law Olmsted, Architecture


 * 1948 &mdash; Charles Austin Beard, History


 * 1948 &mdash; Bruce Rogers, Graphic Arts


 * 1947 &mdash; John Alden Carpenter, Music


 * 1946 &mdash; Van Wyck Brooks, Essays


 * 1945 &mdash; Paul Manship, Sculpture


 * 1944 &mdash; Willa Cather, Fiction


 * 1943 &mdash; Stephen Vincent Benet, Literature


 * 1942 &mdash; Cecilia Beaux, Painting


 * 1942 &mdash; Ernest Bloch, Music


 * 1941 &mdash; Robert E. Sherwood, Drama


 * 1940 &mdash; William Adams Delano, Architecture


 * 1939 &mdash; Robert Frost, Poetry


 * 1938 &mdash; Walter Damrosch, Music


 * 1937 &mdash; Charles M. Andrews, History


 * 1936 &mdash; George Grey Barnard, Sculpture


 * 1935 &mdash; Agnes Repplier, Belles Lettres


 * 1933 &mdash; Booth Tarkington, Fiction


 * 1932 &mdash; Gari Melchers, Painting


 * 1931 &mdash; William Gillette, Drama


 * 1930 &mdash; Charles Adams Platt, Architecture


 * 1930 &mdash; Anna Hyatt Huntington, Sculpture


 * 1929 &mdash; Edwin Arlington Robinson, Poetry


 * 1929 &mdash; Edith Wharton, Fiction


 * 1928 &mdash; George W. Chadwick, Music


 * 1927 &mdash; William M. Sloane, History


 * 1926 &mdash; Herbert Adams, Sculpture


 * 1925 &mdash; Cecilia Beaux, Painting


 * 1925 &mdash; William Crary Brownell, Belles Lettres


 * 1924 &mdash; Edith Wharton, Fiction


 * 1923 &mdash; Edwin Howland Blashfield, Painting


 * 1923 &mdash; Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, Fiction.


 * 1922 &mdash; Eugene O'Neill, Drama


 * 1921 &mdash; Cass Gilbert, Architecture


 * 1919 &mdash; Charles Martin Loeffler, Music


 * 1918 &mdash; William Roscoe Thayer, History


 * 1917 &mdash; Daniel Chester French, Sculpture


 * 1916 &mdash; John Burroughs, Belles Lettres


 * 1916 &mdash; Charles William Eliot, Special distinction.


 * 1915 &mdash; William Dean Howells, Fiction.


 * 1914 &mdash; John Singer Sargent, Painting


 * 1913 &mdash; Augustus Thomas, Drama.


 * 1912 &mdash; William Rutherford Mead, Architecture.


 * 1911 &mdash; James Whitcomb Riley, Poetry


 * 1910 &mdash; James Ford Rhodes, History


 * 1909 &mdash; Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Sculpture.