Ten recipients of the James Smithson Society's Founders Medal:
- Marvin Breckinridge Patterson
- James A. and Barbara H. Block
- Edward Ward Bitter
- Professor Ikuo Hirayama
- Mr. Mercer Ellington
- Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod
- Enid A. Haupt
- William S. Anderson
- Gaylord and Dorothy R. Donnelley
- John H. Phipps
The James Smithson Society is for people who give a lot of money to the Smithsonian Institution. (Or, in their words, "who best understand and support the Institution’s work.") The Founders Medal is for people who give a lot of money to the Smithsonian. And God bless 'em for it.