Department of PhysicsDiscontinued in 1995 and replaced with annual Newson Fellowship Award
* indicates a Nobel Laureate
- 1994 Eugen Merzbacher Symmetry as a story line in physics
- 1993 Willy Haeberli Spin-up, spin-down
- 1992 Robert R. Wilson Fermi, Lawrence, and Oppenheimer: Personal encounters
- 1991 Norman F. Ramsey* Time and the physical universe
- 1990 Victor F. Weisskopf Origin of the universe
- 1989 William A. Fowler* The age of the observable universe
- 1987 Louis Rosen A nuclear scientist looks at recent developments in the USSR and the People's Republic of China
- 1986 Alvin M. Weinberg Are breeder reactors still necessary?
- 1985 Heinz H. Barschall Fission: The early days
- 1984 Maurice Goldhaber The beginning of neutron research: Personal reminiscences
- 1983 Walter Greiner Is the vacuum really empty: From Aristotle to giant nuclei and black holes
- 1982 D. Allan Bromley Physics: The great adventure
- 1981 Herman Feshbach A nuclear reaction mechanism
- 1980 John H. Gibbons Confessions of a wayward physicist