Alexander Hamilton Medal

The Alexander Hamilton Medal is presented each year by the Columbia College Alumni Association to an alumnus/a or faculty member for distinguished service and accomplishment in any field of endeavor. The Alexander Hamilton Medal, first presented in 1947 to Nicholas Murray Butler, is the highest tribute awarded to a member of the Columbia College community.

Recently, Herman Wouk's was sold on eBay as a paperweight.

Past Winners

• 1947- Nicholas Murray Butler
• 1975- Meyer Schapiro
• 1980- Herman Wouk
• 1995- Columbia Science Nobel Prize Winners: Leon N. Cooper `51 (Physics 1972), Roald Hoffmann `58 (Chemistry 1981), Norman F. Ramsey, Jr. `35 (Physics 1989), Melvin Schwartz `53 (Physics 1988) Julian S. Schwinger `36 (posthumously) (Physics 1965)
• 1997- Alfred Lerner CC'55
• 1998- Roone Arledge CC'52
• 1999- Columbia Professors: William Theodore de Bary, CC'41, James Shenton, CC'49, Richard Axel, CC'67
• 2000- William Campbell, CC’62

Previous winners also include Columbia President Dwight D. Eisenhower and alumni William Joseph Donovan, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.