The Franklin Institute has announced that University of Chicago Professor Wendy Freedman will receive the 2026 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics. This award is among the oldest and most respected honors in science, engineering, and business leadership in the United States.
Freedman holds the position of John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. She is recognized for her work as a cosmologist, particularly for her contributions to measuring the Hubble constant, which describes how quickly the universe is expanding.
According to the Franklin Institute, Freedman is being honored for her "scientific investigations that established precision measurements of the expansion rate of the universe, and for leading efforts to make the next generation of these measurements even more precise."
In 2001, Freedman led a team that made a significant measurement of the Hubble constant. Her ongoing research includes developing new methods using different types of stars to improve measurement accuracy. She also studies stellar populations and galaxy evolution.
Freedman played a key role in initiating construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, one of the largest optical telescopes globally. Before joining UChicago in 2014, she served as director of Carnegie Observatories. At UChicago, she is also affiliated with the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.
Her previous honors include receiving awards such as the National Medal of Honor, Magellanic Premium, Gruber Cosmology Prize, and Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. In recent years she was named to Nature’s 10 list in 2024 and included among TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for 2025.
Freedman completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Toronto. She is an elected member or fellow of several scientific organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society, American Physical Society, and American Astronomical Society.
Freedman's recognition continues a tradition at UChicago; past recipients from the university include Albert A. Michelson (1923) and alumnus Edward C. Stone (2022).
The award ceremony will take place at The Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia in April 2026.