Which award did James Watson receive in 1977 for public service?

James Watson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 for his contributions to science and public service. It is the United States’ highest civilian honour, awarded by the president to people who have made especially meritorious contributions to national interests or culture.

Watson became famous for his collaboration with Francis Crick on the 1953 model of DNA’s double-helical structure. Their work, together with crucial contributions from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, helped establish the molecular basis of heredity. Watson, Crick and Wilkins shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The 1977 medal was presented during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. It should not be confused with Watson’s National Medal of Science, which he received later, in 1997. Nor was the honour a Pulitzer Prize or Congressional Gold Medal: those are separate awards with different purposes and selection histories.

Watson’s later career included leadership at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and involvement in genome research. His public legacy is complicated by controversial statements, but those later controversies do not change the identity of the 1977 award.