The Crafoord Prize was established by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1982 to promote basic research in mathematics, geoscience, bioscience (particularly in relation to ecology and evolution), and astronomy, Only one award is given each year. The prize is currently $500,000 US and is intended to fund further research by the prize winner. The prize is named after Holger Crafoord (1908-1982), a Swedish industrialist who donated the initial funds for the prize.

Here is list of the Crafoord Prize winners:

  • 1982 Mathematics: V. I. Arnold and L. Nirenberg
  • 1983 Geoscience: E. N. Lorenz
  • 1984 Bioscience: D. H. Janzen
  • 1985 Astronomy: L. Spitzer, Jr.
  • 1986 Geoscience: C. J. Allegre and G. J. Wasserburg
  • 1987 Bioscience: E. P. and H. T. Odum
  • 1988 Mathematics: P. Deligne and A. Grothendieck
  • 1989 Astronomy: J. Van Allen
  • 1990 Bioscience: P. R. Ehrlich and E. O. Wilson
  • 1991 Astronomy: A. R. Sandage
  • 1992 Bioscience: A. Seilacher
  • 1993 Bioscience: W. D. Hamilton
  • 1994 Mathematics: S. Donaldson and S-T. Yau
  • 1995 Geoscience: W. Dansgaard and N. Shackleton
  • 1996 Bioscience: R. May
  • 1997 Astronomy: F. Hoyle and E. E. Salpeter
  • 1998 Geoscience: D. L. Anderson and A. M. Dziewonski
  • 1999 Bioscience: E. Mayr, J. M. Smith, and G. C. Wiliams
  • 2000 Bioscience: M. Feldmann and R. N. Maini
  • 2001 Mathematics: A. Connes
  • 2002 Geoscience: D. P. McKenzie
  • 2003 Bioscience: C. R. Woese