The Ya. B. Zeldovich Gold Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to theories of combustion. The Gold Medal is presented biennially to one scientist during the International Symposium on Combustion.
The Gold Medal is named after Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich (1914-1987), a world renowned physicist at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. His far-reaching scientific achievements spanned many fields ranging from physical chemistry to nuclear and particle physics, and finally astrophysics and cosmology. Zeldovich worked on the theory of ignition, combustion, and detonation. He achieved important results in the theory of nuclear chain reactions. He also discovered an oxidation of nitrogen mechanism, known in physical chemistry as Thermal NO Mechanism or the Zeldovich Mechanism.
The Ya. B. Zeldovich Gold Medal is one of the highest awards of The Combustion Institute, presented biennially during the International Symposium on Combustion. Gold Medals are bestowed upon scientists whose major contributions have significantly advanced their fields of combustion science.
Recipients
| 2024: Heinz Pitsch | 2012: Mitchell D. Smooke | 2000: Elaine S. Oran |
| 2022: Henry Curran | 2010: Sébastien Candel | 1998: Craig T. Bowman |
| 2020: Moshe Matalon | 2008: Stephen B. Pope | 1996: Boris V. Novozhilov |
| 2018: Stephen J. Klippenstein | 2006: Gregory I. Sivashinsky | 1994: Amable Liñán |
| 2016: Thierry Poinsot | 2004: John David Buckmaster | 1992: Robert W. Bilger |
| 2014: Paul Clavin | 2002: Norbert Peters | 1990: A.G. Merzhanov |