On April 29, 1912, at a meeting of the Academic Council, a special committee appointed by President Benjamin Ide Wheeler “to consider the feasibility of establishing at the University a series of lectures for the presentation of results of research at the University of California” reported favorably on the proposal. The committee’s report provided that the Academic Senate shall elect annually as Faculty Research Lecturer a faculty member distinguished for scholarly research in his/her chosen field of study. Faculty Research Lecturers from 1913 to the present are listed below. Because of war conditions, no selection was made for the year 1919.
| Year | Faculty Research Lecturer |
|---|---|
| 1913 | W. W. Campbell, Astronomy |
| 1914 | John C. Merriam, Paleontology |
| 1915 | A.O. Leuschner, Astronomy |
| 1916 | Frederick P. Gay, Pathology |
| 1917 | Herbert E. Bolton, American History |
| 1918 | Rudolph Schevill, Spanish Language and Literature |
| 1920 | Gilbert N. Lewis, Chemistry |
| 1921 | Charles Mills Gayley, English |
| 1922 | Charles A. Kofoid, Zoology |
| 1923 | George R. Noyes, Slavic Languages |
| 1924 | Carl C. Plehn, Economics |
| 1925 | Herbert M. Evans, Anatomy |
| 1926 | Florian Cajori, Mathematics |
| 1927 | Andrew C. Lawson, Geology |
| 1928 | A. L. Kroeber, Anthropology |
| 1929 | Samuel J. Holmes, Zoology |
| 1930 | William Popper, Semitic Languages |
| 1931 | William A. Setchell, Botany |
| 1932 | William Hammond Wright, Astronomy |
| 1933 | George P. Adams, Philosophy |
| 1934 | Willis Linn Jepson, Botany |
| 1935 | Frederick J. Teggart, Social Institutions |
| 1936 | Joel H. Hildebrand, Chemistry |
| 1937 | Karl F. Meyer, Bacteriology |
| 1938 | Ernest O. Lawrence, Physics |
| 1939 | Henry Frederick Lutz, Egyptology and Assyriology |
| 1940 | George D. Louderback, Geology |
| 1941 | Ivan M. Linforth, Greek |
| 1942 | Dennis R. Hoagland, Plant Nutrition |
| 1943 | Robert J. Kerner, European History |
| 1944 | Ernest B. Babcock, Genetics |
| 1945 | John S. P. Tatlock, English |
| 1946 | Raymond T. Birge, Physics |
| 1947 | Edward C. Tolman, Psychology |
| 1948 | William Francis Giauque, Chemistry |
| 1949 | Robert H. Lowie, Anthropology |
| 1950 | Griffith C. Evans, Mathematics |
| 1951 | Agnes Fay Morgan, Nutrition |
| 1952 | Stuart Daggett, Transportation |
| 1953 | Wendell M. Latimer, Chemisty and Chemical Engineering |
| 1954 | Roy E. Clausen, Genetics |
| 1955 | Edwin M. McMillan, Physics |
| 1956 | Murray B. Emeneau, General Linguistics and Sanskrit |
| 1957 | Melvin Calvin, Chemistry |
| 1958 | Stephen C. Pepper, Philosophy |
| 1959 | Glenn T. Seaborg, Chemistry |
| 1960 | Emilio Segré, Physics |
| 1961 | Bertrand H. Bronson, English |
| 1962 | Luis Walter Alvarez, Physics |
| 1963 | Alfred Tarski, Mathematics |
| 1964 | Curt Stern, Zoology |
| 1965 | Mary R. Haas, Linguistics |
| 1966 | Leo Brewer, Chemistry |
| 1967 | Yuen Ren Chao, Oriental Languages and Literature |
| 1968 | Heinz L. Fraenkel-Conrat, Molecular Biology |
| 1969 | Kingsley Davis, Sociology |
| 1970 | Francis J. Turner, Geology |
| 1971 | David Blackwell, Statistics |
| 1972 | Horace A. Barker, Biochemistry |
| 1972 | Sherwood L. Washburn, Anthropology |
| 1973 | Walter W. Horn, History of Art |
| 1973 | Earl R. Parker, Materials Science and Engineering |
| 1974 | Daniel Mazia, Zoology |
| 1974 | John H. Reynolds, Physics |
| 1975 | William J. Bouwsma, History |
| 1975 | George C. Pimentel, Chemistry |
| 1976 | Josephine Miles, English |
| 1976 | John Verhoogen, Geology and Geophysics |
| 1977 | Frank A. Beach, Psychology |
| 1977 | Ralph Emerson, Botany |
| 1978 | Joseph W. Kerman, Music |
| 1978 | Shiing-shen Chern, Mathematics |
| 1979 | Erwin L. Hahn, Physics |
| 1979 | J. Desmond Clark, Anthropology |
| 1980 | Czeslaw Milosz, Slavic Languages and Literature |
| 1980 | Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., Biochemistry |
| 1981 | Henry F. May, History |
| 1981 | John M. Prausnitz, Chemical Engineering |
| 1982 | James Cahill, History of Art |
| 1982 | Richard M. Karp, Computer Science |
| 1983 | Elizabeth F. Colson, Anthropology |
| 1983 | Russell L. DeValois, Psychology |
| 1984 | Edward H. Schafer, Oriental Languages |
| 1984 | Stephen Smale, Mathematics and Economics |
| 1985 | Bruce N. Ames, Biochemistry |
| 1985 | Gerard Debreu, Economics and Mathematics |
| 1986 | Charles H. Townes, Physics |
| 1986 | Jonas A. Barish, English |
| 1987 | John R. Searle, Philosophy |
| 1987 | H. Bolton Seed, Civil Engineering |
| 1988 | Robert Brentano, History |
| 1988 | Howard A. Bern, Zoology |
| 1989 | Harold S. Johnston, Chemistry |
| 1989 | Yakov Malkiel, Linguistics |
| 1990 | Thomas G. Rosenmeyer, Greek and Comparative Literature |
| 1990 | Allan C. Wilson, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
| 1991 | Paul L. Richards, Physics |
| 1991 | Andrew W. Imbrie, Music |
| 1992 | Frederick C. Crews, English |
| 1992 | Doris H. Calloway, Nutritional Sciences |
| 1993 | Yuan T. Lee, Chemistry |
| 1993 | Sanford H. Kadish, Law |
| 1994 | Howard K. Schachman, Molecular and Cell Biology |
| 1994 | Susan Ervin-Tripp, Psychology |
| 1995 | Gene Brucker, History |
| 1995 | Manuel Blum, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
| 1996 | Alexander Pines, Chemistry |
| 1996 | Stephen Greenblatt, English |
| 1997 | Ernst B. Haas, Government |
| 1997 | Marvin L. Cohen, Physics |
| 1998 | John E. Casida, Chemical and Molecular Entomology |
| 1998 | Robert B. Alter, Hebrew and Comparative Literature |
| 1999 | Robert L. Middlekauff, American History |
| 1999 | Randy W. Schekman, Molecular and Cell Biology |
| 2000 | Anthony A. Long, Classics |
| 2000 | Alexandre Chorin, Mathematics |
| 2001 | Frank H. Shu, Astronomy |
| 2001 | Richard Taruskin, Music |
| 2002 | Robert Tjian, Molecular and Cell Biology |
| 2002 | Timothy J. Clark, History of Art |
| 2003 | Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Medical Anthropology Gabor A. Somorjai, Chemistry |
| 2004 | Erich S. Gruen, History & Classics David B. Wake, Integrative Biology |
| 2005 | Judith Butler, Rhetoric, Comparative Literature, and Gender and Women's Studies John Clarke, Physics and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| 2006 | Nicholas R. Cozzarelli, Molecular and Cell Biology Barry Stroud, Philosophy |
| 2007 | Martin Jay, History Vaughan F. R. Jones, Mathematics |
