Washington, D.C. – Nov. 19, 2019 – Smithsonian magazine, the flagship publication of the Smithsonian Institution, today announced the honorees of the eighth annual American Ingenuity Awards. The awards honor individuals who are transforming American culture. This year’s awards honor individuals across seven wide-ranging categories: Youth, Visual Arts, Social Progress, Technology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Performing Arts.
The winners will be featured in Smithsonian magazine’s special December American Ingenuity Awards issue, available now at Smithsonianmag.com/ingenuity and on newsstands Nov. 26.
The full list of 2019 American Ingenuity Awards honorees includes:
Past winners have included SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk; Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos; singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe; Grammy-winning musician John Legend; writer and actor John Krasinski; former United States Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith; novelist Dave Eggers; Apple designer Jony Ive; Hamilton composer Lin-Manuel Miranda; the Parkland survivors who created the March for Our Lives and many more.
“Our American Ingenuity Awards honor those individuals who are spearheading revolutionary change in society," said Maria Keehan, creative director of Smithsonian magazine. “We are celebrating visionaries across a multitude of platforms, from those aiding disaster victims worldwide to those developing a life-saving gene therapy or redefining what it means to mix genres in music.
"We are proud to honor this year's class, all of whom are at the top of their respective fields.”
Smithsonian Media is composed of its flagship publication, Smithsonian magazine, Air & Space magazine and Smithsonianmag.com. In addition, Smithsonian Media oversees the licensing relationship with CBS/Showtime for the Smithsonian Channel. Smithsonian Media is a division of Smithsonian Enterprises, the revenue-generating business unit of the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex consisting of 19 museums, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities. Approximately 29 million people from around the world visit the museums annually. Visit smithsonian.com and si.edu.