The Howard Hughes Memorial Award honors exceptional leaders who have advanced the fields of aviation or aerospace technology.
Hughes’ first cousin, William R. Lummis, established the award in 1978, and the Aero Club of Southern California presents the award annually.
Recent recipients of the award include
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, Richard “Dick” Rutan, and Harrison Ford.
About the Howard Hughes Memorial Medallion
The solid silver medallion, cast in silver from Hughes’ Nevada mines, depicts Hughes from the era when he was designing and flying his famed Flying Boat and setting world aviation records.
The reverse side highlights other aspects of Hughes’ life – the Hughes drill bit, a film reel, a landing falcon, the state of Nevada, the earth encircled with stars for his around-the-world record, the first communications satellite, and the Flying Boat cresting the waves of Long Beach Harbor.
The medallion was designed and executed by sculptor Josef Princiotta.
About the Howard Hughes Memorial Trophy
The Howard Hughes Memorial trophy is a globe and vehicle sculpture with recipients’ names engraved on the base.
2021 Howard Hughes Memorial Trophy Presentation
Howard Hughes Memorial Award Recipients include:
- 1978 – Jack Northrop
- 1979 – Jimmy Doolittle
- 1980 – Pat Hyland
- 1981 – Bob Six
- 1982 – Kelly Johnson
- 1983 – Chuck Yeager
- 1984 – Ed Heineman
- 1985 – Barry Goldwater
- 1986 – Pete Conrad
- 1987 – Allen Paulsen
- 1988 – No Award Presented
- 1989 – Si Ramo
- 1990 – Jack Real
- 1991 – Ben Rich
- 1992 – Clifton Moore
- 1993 – Lee Atwood
- 1994 – Harry Wetzel
- 1995 – Bobbi Trout
- 1996 – Tom Jones
- 1997 – Allen Puckett
- 1998 – Paul MacCready
- 1999 – John Brizendine
- 2000 – Willis Hawkins
- 2001 – Sam Iacobellis
- 2002 – Kent Kressa
- 2003 – Neil Armstrong
- 2004 – Frank Robinson
- 2005 – Burt Rutan
- 2006 – Eileen Collins
- 2007 – James Albaugh
- 2008 – Ron Sugar
- 2009 – Bob Hoover
- 2010 – Fred Smith
- 2011 – Clay Lacy
- 2012 – Steven Udvar-Hazy
- 2013 – Dr. Edward Stone
- 2014 – Elon Musk
- 2015- Jim Lovell
- 2016 – Wes Bush
- 2017 – Marillyn Hewson
- 2018 – Buzz Aldrin
- 2019 – Captain “Sully” Sullenberger
- 2021 – Richard “Dick” Rutan
- 2022 – Harrison Ford