The Rittenhouse Medal is awarded by the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society for outstanding achievement in the science of Astronomy.[1] The medal was one of those originally minted to commemorate the Bi-Centenary of the birth of David Rittenhouse on April 8, 1932. In 1952 the Society decided to establish a silver medal to be awarded to astronomers for noteworthy achievement in astronomical science. The silver medal is cast from the die (obverse) used for the Bi-Centennial Rittenhouse Medal.
| Year | Recipient | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate Medal | ||
| 1933 | Frank Schlesinger | Director Yale Observatory |
| 1934 | Robert G. Aitken | Director Lick Observatory |
| 1935 | Harlow Shapley | Mount Wilson Observatory |
| 1936 | Robert McMath | Director McMath-Hulbert Observatory |
| 1937 | Armin O. Leuschner | Berkley Astronomical Department |
| 1938 | Knut Lundmark | Professor of Astronomy, University of Lund, Sweden |
| 1940 | Gustavus Wynne Cook | Director Cook Observatory |
| 1940 | John A. Miller | Director Emeritus, Sproul Observatory |
| 1943 | Forest Ray Moulton | Secretary, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1943 | Samuel Fels | Philanthropist and Donor of Fels Planetarium |
| Silver Medal | ||
| 1952 | Gerard P. Kuiper | Director Yerkes Observatory |
| 1953 | Harlow Shapley | Director Harvard Observatory |
| 1954 | Otto Struve | President International Astronomical Union |
| 1955 | Harold Spencer Jones | Astronomer Royal of England |
| 1958 | Lyman Spitzer, Jr. | Director Princeton University Observatory |
| 1959 | Bengt Stromgren | Professor; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton |
| 1960 | Fred Hoyle | Plumian Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge University |
| 1961 | Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin | Professor Harvard University |
| 1965 | Peter Van De Kamp | Director Sproul Observatory, Swarthmore College |
| 1966 | Martin Schwarzschild | Professor; Princeton University |
| 1967 | Helen Sawyer Hogg | Harvard Observatory |
| 1968 | Allan Sandage | |
| 1980 | Carl Sagan | |
| 1988 | Carolyn Shoemaker, Eugene Shoemaker | |
| 1990 | Clyde Tombaugh | |