The Nemmers Prize

Celebrating Brilliant Minds

About the Nemmers Prizes

Five cross-disciplinary prizes are awarded every other year.

Awarded by Northwestern University, the prestigious Nemmers Prize recognizes renowned leaders from institutions outside of Northwestern who have made lasting contributions to new knowledge or the development of significant new modes of analysis. The prizes carry some of the largest stipends in their fields. The 2026 recipients are Jean-Laurent Casanova for Medical Science, John Corigliano for Music Composition, Maureen Raymo for Earth Sciences, Whitney K. Newey for Economics, and Andrei Okounkov for Mathematics. Click on the categories below to learn about their work.

Family of Prizes

Learn about each prize and its 2026 recipient.

Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences

Established in 2016.

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Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics

Established in 1994.

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Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics

Established in 1994.

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Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science

Established in 2015.

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Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition

Established in 2003.

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The Nemmers Story

Erwin Esser Nemmers served on the faculty of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management from 1957 until his retirement in 1986. He was a man of wide-ranging interests who earned an undergraduate degree and master’s degree in music, a law degree from Harvard, a degree in aeronautical engineering from Iowa, and doctorates in both economics and law from Wisconsin. He and his brother, Frederic Esser Nemmers, were principals in a Milwaukee-based, family-owned church music publishing house. Together, they contributed $14 million to Northwestern upon their deaths and designated the gifts for two purposes: the establishment of four endowed professorships in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the establishment of the university-wide Nemmers Prizes.

Additional Information

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