Walter Lewin

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Records

Walter Lewin's teaching awards and research honors reflect a career of exceptional achievement. He is one of the few academics to receive both a NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and a Guggenheim Fellowship, alongside multiple MIT teaching prizes. His inclusion in The Princeton Review's "The Best 300 Professors" as the only MIT professor underscores his unique impact on physics education. The global reach of his lectures, millions of views annually, and the translation of his book into nine languages demonstrate a legacy that transcends the classroom.

AwardsLewin received three MIT prizes for excellence in undergraduate teaching, and edX notes a total of five teaching awards. He also received a NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, an Alexander von Humboldt Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship for his astrophysics research.

Honours & Distinctions

Corresponding Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences·1993

Elected for contributions to astrophysics.

Fellow of the American Physical Society

American Physical Society·1993

Elected for contributions to physics.

Rankings & Lists

#Listed

The Best 300 Professors

The Princeton Review·2012

Records & Feats

First discovery of a slowly rotating neutron star

Scientific Discovery·1966

Lewin's balloon surveys led to the first detection of a slowly rotating neutron star, a milestone in X-ray astronomy.

Only MIT professor in The Princeton Review's Best 300 Professors

Teaching Honor·2012

Lewin is the sole MIT faculty member featured in this national teaching ranking.