John Clarke in his lab.
July, 2026
Berkeley Physics Professor and 2025 Nobel laureate John Clarke has been inducted into the Achievement Museum of the American Academy of Achievement and honored with the prestigious Golden Plate Award during the Academy's 56th Annual International Achievement Summit, held June 23–25, 2026, in Washington DC.
Clarke was recognized as a Guest of Honor during the Summit's black-tie Banquet of the Golden Plate, where he and fellow honorees were inducted into the Academy's Achievement Museum. The museum preserves the stories and accomplishments of distinguished Academy members while inspiring future generations of students, educators, and leaders.
The American Academy of Achievement brings together accomplished leaders from across the sciences, arts, public service, business, and athletics with exceptional students from around the world. Its annual International Achievement Summit provides young innovators, scholars, and entrepreneurs the opportunity to engage directly with some of the world's most influential thinkers and pioneers.
The 2026 Summit commemorated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and celebrated creativity, imagination, innovation, and individual leadership. The program featured symposiums, roundtable discussions, and special events with Academy delegates, National Academy of Sciences members, and leaders from the Smithsonian Institution.
Clarke shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics with colleagues Michel Devoret and John Martinis for demonstrating experimentally that macroscopic variables obey quantum mechanics. They published two papers that provided very strong evidence for the existence of energy quantization and macroscopic quantum tunneling in an electrical circuit.
The Golden Plate Award is among the American Academy of Achievement's highest honors, recognizing individuals whose achievements have made lasting contributions to science, scholarship, public service, and society.