Top Honors in Gold

In 1971 Dr. Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., then a faculty member at Vanderbilt University, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his discoveries regarding the mechanics of hormonal action. At this time the Nobel Prize medals were made of 23-karat gold and each weighed approximately seven ounces with a diameter of two and a half inches. This impressive gold medallion was awarded in the ceremony in Stockholm by King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden.

[Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, Dr. Earl W. Sutherland, Jr.]
Stockholm, Sweden, 1971
History of Medicine
Collection, Vanderbilt University Libraries

[National Academy of Sciences Award, Dr. Ernest Goodpasture]
1958
History of Medicine
Collection, Vanderbilt University Libraries

In 1958 Dr. Ernest Goodpasture of the Vanderbilt Medical School faculty won the highest honor for achievement in medical science from the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Goodpasture is best known for his development with Vanderbilt colleagues of a method for growing viruses and rickettsia in chicken eggs which enabled the mass production of vaccines.

[Founder’s Prize, Literary Department J.C. McReynolds]
Nashville: Gates and Pohlman
May 1882
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

[Founder’s Medal, Clifton A. Ragsdale]
Nashville, 1915
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

Since 1877 Vanderbilt has awarded gold medals to students graduating with first honors from each of the university’s schools and colleges.  The Founder’s Medalists Awards are named after the university’s founder, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who endowed the awards in the first year.

[Freshman Mathematics Medal, Clifton Ragsdale]
Nashville, 1912
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

[Phi Beta Kappa Key, F. Hill Turner]
A Chapter of Tennessee, 1950
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

[Omicron Delta Kappa Key, F. Hill Turner]
Vanderbilt Chapter, 1939
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

[Gold Plated Vanderbilt Oakleaf Shield]
c. 1978
Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection

In the early years of the university, the awards for outstanding achievement and for membership in prestigious national honorary societies such as Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa were presented in keys of 14-karat gold.  On display are some of these early medals which have been given to the university by generous alumni and are kept in the Vanderbilt University Memorabilia Collection.