1917

Charles Barkla 

Charles Barkla (1877-1944) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for research into X-rays and other emissions in 1917. Barkla was Professor of Physics at King's from 1909 to 1913.

1928

Owen Willans Richardson

Sir Owen Willans Richardson (1879-1959) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1928 for his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him". Sir Owen was Wheatstone Professor of Physics at Kings from 1914-24.

1929 

Frederick Gowland Hopkins

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861-1947), was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of essential nutrient factors—now known as vitamins—needed in animal diets to maintain health. Sir Frederick taught physiology and toxicology at Guy's Hospital from 1894 to 1898.

1932

Charles Scott Sherrington

Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857-1952), was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1932 for his research on the nervous system. Sir Charles was Professor in Systematic Physiology at St Thomas' Hospital 1887-91.

1947

Edward Appleton

Sir Edward Appleton (1892-1965), was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for exploration of the ionosophere in 1947. Sir Edward was Wheatstone Professor of Physics at King's from 1924-36.

1951

Max Theiler

Max Theiler (1899-1972) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing a vaccine for yellow fever in 1951. He was the first African-born Nobel laureate. Dr Theiler studied at St. Thomas' Hospital. He also worked on the causes and immunology of Weil's disease, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and poliomyelitis.

1962

Maurice Wilkins

Maurice Wilkins (1916–2004) was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in using X-ray diffraction to take new images of a form of the DNA molecule. Maurice remained at King's for the rest of his career.

1984

Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 in recognition of his work as Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches. 

1988

James Black

Sir James Black (1924-2010) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of beta-blocker and anti-ulcer drugs in 1988. Sir James was Professor of Analytical Pharmacology at King's.

2010

Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat". Llosa was a Lecturer in Spanish American Literature in the Department of Spanish & Spanish-American Studies at King's in 1969-70, before he became a full-time writer. He became a Fellow of King's in 2005.

2013

Michael Levitt

Michael Levitt was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 alongside Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel, for ‘the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems’, laying the foundation for the computer models now used to understand and predict chemical processes. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by King’s the following year.

Peter Higgs

Professor Peter Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Among the many honours and awards Professor Higgs has received are the Fellowship of King's in 1998 and the university's Honorary Doctorate of Science in 2009.

2020

Roger Penrose

Professor Sir Roger Penrose was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery which showed that the general theory of relativity leads to the formation of black holes. He spent two years as a research associate at King's between 1961 and 1963 and was awarded an honorary degree by King's in 2018.

Michael Houghton

Michael Houghton was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine 2020 for his contribution to the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.