Special Report
2015 Ingenuity Awards
The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years and the highest honor we now give in that regard is the American Ingenuity Award, which showcases revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress. Winners and presenters have included Nobel laureates, rock stars and civil rights icons—from physicist Stephen Hawking, to Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, to musicians David Byrne and St. Vincent, writer and educator Dave Eggers, virtual reality inventor Palmer Luckey, and Grammy-award winner Rosanne Cash. The American Ingenuity Award itself was created by the artist Jeff Koons.
Read about this year's winners and other related events, including for the first time a public forum featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, the 2015 American Ingenuity Award Winner for History, at the National Museum of American History.
This Year's Winners
Why Bill Hader and Fred Armisen Are Parodying Documentaries in Their Latest, Ingenious Project
The "SNL" veterans behind the sly new series "Documentary Now" add a layer of authenticity to the art of sending up nonfiction films
Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind "Hamilton," Broadway's Newest Hit
Composer, lyricist and performer, Miranda wows audiences and upends U.S. history with his dazzlingly fresh hip-hop musical
How Alan Stern Brought Pluto to Earth
The scientist behind NASA's New Horizons mission gave cheering earthlings their first close-up view of the dwarf planet
This Wildly Creative Art Project Transformed an Ugly Interstate Into a 2,400-Mile-Long Visual Masterpiece
Zoe Crosher and Shamim Momin are behind the effort to turn the classic American eyesore into true art
The Two Brains at the Forefront of the Fight Against Alzheimer's
Rudolph Tanzi and Doo Yeon Kim have invented a revolutionary new tool to study the mysteries of the disease and counter the coming epidemic of dementia
The New Yorker Editor Who Became a Comic Book Hero
The amazing tale of a determined art director who harnessed the powers of the greatest illustrators around the world to blow kids' minds
How Theaster Gates Is Revitalizing Chicago's South Side, One Vacant Building at a Time
The artist's creative approach to bringing new life to a crumbling neighborhood offers hope for America's beleaguered cities
Smile, Frown, Grimace and Grin — Your Facial Expression Is the Next Frontier in Big Data
Engineer Rana el Kaliouby is set to change the way we interact with our devices—and each other
The Young Inventor Who Is a "Minder" of a Business of Her Own
At age 11, Lilianna Zyszkowski designed a new life-saving device to help people track their medication. That was just the beginning
Photo credits: Fred Armisen and Bill Hader/ Brinson + Banks; Lin-Manuel Miranda/Erin Patrice O'Brien; Alan Stern/ Jamie Kripke; Zoe Crosher and Shamim Momin/Mathieu Young; Doo Yeon Kim and Rudolph Tanzi/Irvin Serrano; Francoise Mouly/Sarah Shatz; Theaster Gates/Jon Lowenstein; Rana el Kaliouby/Kevin Tachman; Lilianna Zyskowski/Hollenderx2
Past Winners
The 2014 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award Winners
These 10 innovators in science, history, society and the arts are a testament to the imagination and hard work that define the nation's spirit
The 2013 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award Winners
We recognize nine of the past year's shining achievements and the innovators behind them
Smithsonian's 2012 American Ingenuity Award Winners
Meet the nine winners, recognized for their groundbreaking achievements in science, technology, art and scholarship
