About BCS

The Wheeler Medal

Honoring Berkeley’s Most Useful Citizen since 1929.

About the Award

The Wheeler Medal honors an outstanding member of the Berkeley community who has delivered sustained, distinguished service benefiting many residents. Named for Benjamin Ide Wheeler — the University of California president who transformed the institution into a world-renowned university — the award was established by the Service Clubs Council of Berkeley in 1929. Berkeley Community Scholars has administered it since 1994, presenting it to “Berkeley’s Most Useful Citizen.”

Prior Recipients

Since 1929, the Wheeler Medal has honored “Berkeley’s Most Useful Citizen.” Past recipients include:

  • 1929 · William H. Waste
  • 1931 · August Vollmer
  • 1933 · Robert Gordon Sproul
  • 1935 · Chester R. Rowell
  • 1937 · William B. Herms
  • 1939 · Monroe E. Deutsch
  • 1941 · Louise Marks
  • 1943 · Lester W. Hink
  • 1945 · E.O. Lawrence
  • 1947 · Vere V. Loper
  • 1949 · Emery Stone
  • 1951 · Clarence A. Bullwinkel
  • 1953 · Galen M. Fisher
  • 1955 · Walter A. Gordon
  • 1957 · Lilly M. Whitaker
  • 1959 · Robert R. Porter
  • 1961 · Redmond C. Staats, Jr.
  • 1963 · Claude B. Hutchison
  • 1965 · Katherine Towle
  • 1967 · Wallace J.S. Johnson
  • 1969 · Roger W. Heyns
  • 1971 · Wilmont Sweeny
  • 1973 · Carol Sibley
  • 1975 · Thomas B. Shaw
  • 1977 · Sylvia C. McLaughlin
  • 1979 · Robert W. Ratcliff
  • 1981 · Paul E. Harberts
  • 1983 · Robert G. Eaneman
  • 1985 · Robert A. Rice
  • 1987 · Margaret S. Gordon
  • 1989 · Fred S. Stripp
  • 1991 · Mary Lee Jefferds
  • 1994 · Ira Michael Heyman
  • 1995 · Alba and Bernard Witkin
  • 1996 · John A. Martin, Jr.
  • 1997 · Chang-Lin Tien
  • 1998 · David R. Brower
  • 1999 · Marian Cleeves Diamond
  • 2000 · Thelton E. Henderson
  • 2001 · Jeffrey Shattuck Leiter
  • 2002 · Alice Waters
  • 2003 · Kent Nagano
  • 2004 · Arthur Rosenfeld, Ph.D.
  • 2005 · Davida Coady, M.D.
  • 2006 · Mal Warwick
  • 2007 · Robert Cole
  • 2008 · Helen and John Meyer
  • 2009 · Steven H. Oliver
  • 2010 · Denny Abrams and Richard Millikan
  • 2011 · Narsai M. David
  • 2012 · Susan Medak
  • 2013 · Wavy Gravy
  • 2014 · Arlene Blum
  • 2015 · Archana Horsting
  • 2016 · Skip Battle
  • 2017 · Dr. Vicki Alexander
  • 2018 · Susan Muscarella
  • 2019 · Frances Dinkelspiel, Lance Knobel & Tracey Taylor