Our most prestigious award celebrates visionary leaders who exemplify the AISES mission through groundbreaking achievements in science, technology, engineering, and math.
It is humbling to receive an award named for a Haudenosaunee hero. It is indeed moving to receive recognition from AISES, an organization that has touched the lives of so many people, including me, in a good way. The best paths to solve the world's problems are those that combine the techniques of modern science with the knowledge, tradition, creativity, resilience and values of our Indigenous People; AISES is the place where those two powerful forces come together.
2024 – Dr. Jani Ingram (Navajo)
2023 – Marlene Watson (Navajo)
2022 – Dr. Wren Walker Robbins (Mohawk)
2021 – Rick Stephens (Pala Band of Mission Indians)
2020 – Dr. Cara Cowan Watts (Cherokee)
2019 – Dr. Roger Dube (Mohawk Turtle Clan)
2018 – Cheryl McClellan (Sac and Fox)
2017 – Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson (Navajo)
2016 – Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
2015 – Dr. Bret Benally-Thompson (White Earth Band of Ojibwe)
2014 – Dr. Jason Younker (Coquille)
2013 – Bessie Newman Spicer (Navajo)
2012 – Dr. Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne)
2011 – Everett Chavez (Kewa Pueblo)
2010 – Dr. Robert Whitman (Navajo)
2009 – Sandra Begay-Campbell (Navajo)
2008 – Norbert S. Hill Jr. (Oneida)
2007 – Governor Joseph Garcia (Ohkay Owingeh)
2005 – George Thomas, Engineering, (Cherokee)
2004 – Jerry Elliott, Physics, (Osage/Cherokee)
2003 – Carole Gardipe, Geology, (Penobscot)
2002 – Dr. Judith Kaur, Medicine (Choctaw/ Cherokee)
2001 – Carolyn Elgin, Ed.D., Educator (Choctaw)
2000 – Jim May, Ph.D., Engineering/Business/ Library Science (Cherokee)
1999 – Robert Megginson, Ph.D., Mathematics (Lakota)
1998 – Dick French, Forestry (Yakama) – Awarded Posthumously
1997 – Jane Mt. Pleasant, Ph.D., Agronomy & Soil Science (Tuscarora)
1996 – Fred Cooper, Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Shoalwater Bay)
1995 – Cliff Poodry, Ph.D., Biology (Seneca)
1994 – Dwight Gourneau, Electrical Engineering & Physics (Chippewa)
1993 – Dr. Taylor MacKenzie, Medicine (Navajo)
1992 – Fred Begay, Ph.D., Physics (Navajo)
1990 – Dr. George Blue Spruce, Dentist (Pueblo)
1989 – Dr. Lois Steele, Medicine (Assiniboine)
1988 – Tom Dawson, Electrical Engineering (Cherokee)
1988 – Don Ridley, Aerospace Engineering (Shoshone)
1987 – Phil Lane Sr., Civil Engineering (Yankton Sioux)
1986 – Al Qöyawayma, Mechanical Engineering (Hopi)
1985 – Mary Ross, Mathematics & Aerospace Engineering (Cherokee)
1984 – Phil Stevens, Engineering (Oglala Sioux)
1983 – A T (Andy) Anderson, Chemical Engineering (Seneca) – Awarded Posthumously
This award, named for Ely S. Parker, recognizes exceptional leaders who clearly embody the AISES mission through their achievements and contributions to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The AISES Board of Directors is responsible for selecting one award winner annually, evaluated on the following criteria:
As the most prestigious award given by AISES, the Ely S. Parker Award is considered a lifetime achievement award and thus nominees must have demonstrated achievements throughout their lifetime that clearly embody the AISES mission. Nominees not meeting the following criteria will not be considered:
The awardee is expected to accept the award in-person during the closing ceremony of the 2026 National AISES Conference on October 17, 2026, in Portland, Oregon. Travel expenses to attend the ceremony are not covered by AISES.
