He was a recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Award (1969), the Harmon International Aviation Trophy (1966), the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees Award (1969), the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award (1979) and the Elmer A. Sperry Award (2008). Stafford received recognition from both the U.S. and Russian governments, with the U.S. Congressional Space Medal of Honor (1993) and the Russian Medal “For Merit in Space Exploration”
Stafford was presented with the Medal “For Merit in Space Exploration” from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on April 12, 2011, at the Moscow Kremlin.
Stafford’s military decorations and awards include: the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ribbon with three oak leaf clusters. Other awards presented to Stafford include: NASA Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, NASA Exceptional Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Octave Chanute Award (1976), the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Space Award, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1976), the National Geographic Society’s General Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy (1975), and the A. B. Honts Award as the outstanding graduate from the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School. He was awarded the Gold Space Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1976. FAI created an exception that allowed Leonov to be awarded it alongside him; typically the award is restricted to one person per year.
In 2011, he was awarded the National Aeronautic Association Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and the Air Force Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2014. Stafford is an inductee of the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame, International Air & Space Hall of Fame, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the International Space Hall of Fame. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and a member of the Explorers Club. In 2019, he was awarded the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award.
Stafford is the recipient of several honorary degrees. These include: a Doctorate of Science from Oklahoma City University; a Doctorate of Laws from Western State University; a Doctorate of Communications from Emerson College, and a Doctorate of Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Bust of Stafford at the USAF Museum In his hometown of Weatherford, Stafford was honored with a building at Southwestern Oklahoma State University named in his honor, the Thomas P. Stafford Airport, and the Stafford Air & Space Museum. The Stafford Building at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City is named after him. In September 2018, Stafford was depicted in with a corn maze in Hydro, Oklahoma.
