The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring "exceptional contributions to communications and networking sciences and engineering" in the field of telecommunications. The medal is one of the highest honors awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for achievements in telecommunication sciences and engineering.
It was instituted in 1976 by the directors of IEEE, commemorating the centennial of the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. The award is presented either to an individual, or to a team of two or three persons.
The institute's reasoning for the award was described thus:
Recipients of the award receive a gold medal, bronze replica, certificate, and an honorarium.
Recipients
As listed by the IEEE:
1976 Amos E. Joel, Jr., William Keister, and Raymond W. Ketchledge
1977 Eberhardt Rechtin
1978 M. Robert Aaron, John S. Mayo, and Eric E. Sumner
1979 A. Christian Jacobaeus
1980 Richard R. Hough
1981 David Slepian
1982 Harold A. Rosen
1983 Stephen O. Rice
1984 Andrew J. Viterbi
1985 Charles K. Kao
1986 Bernard Widrow
1987 Joel S. Engel, Richard H. Frenkiel, and William C. Jakes, Jr. 1988 Robert M. Metcalfe 1989 Gerald R. Ash and Billy B. Oliver 1990 Paul Baran 1991 C. Chapin Cutler, John O. Limb, and Arun N. Netravali 1992 James L. Massey 1993 Donald C. Cox 1994 Hiroshi Inose 1995 Irwin M. Jacobs 1996 Tadahiro Sekimoto 1997 Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn 1998 Richard E. Blahut 1999 David G. Messerschmitt 2000 Vladimir A. Kotelnikov