1961 m. buvo apdovanotas Nobelio premija chemijos srityje už fotosintezės tyrimus.
Kartu su savo darbo grupe Kalifornijos universitete tyrė, kaip augalai fiksuoja CO2 ir kokios tuo metu vyksta biocheminės reakcijos. Jo garbei buvo pavadintas Kalvino ciklas.
Svedbergas (1926)· Vylandas (1927)· Adolf Windaus (1928)· Arthur Harden / Hans von Euler-Chelpin (1929)· Hans Fischer (1930)·Carl Bosch / Friedrich Bergius (1931)· Irving Langmuir (1932)· Harold Urey (1934)· Frédéric Joliot-Curie / Irène Joliot-Curie (1935)·Peter Debye (1936)· Norman Haworth / Paul Karrer (1937)·Richard Kuhn (1938)·Adolf Butenandt / Leopold Ružička (1939)· George de Hevesy (1943)·Otto Hahn (1944)· Artturi Virtanen (1945)· James B. Sumner / John Northrop / Wendell Meredith Stanley (1946) · Robinsonas (1947)· Arne Tiselius (1948)· William Giauque (1949)·Otto Paul Hermann Diels / Kurt Alder (1950)
1951–1975
Edwin McMillan / Glenn T. Seaborg (1951)· Archer Martin / Richard Synge (1952)· Hermann Staudinger (1953)·Linus Pauling (1954)· Vincent du Vigneaud (1955)· Cyril Hinshelwood / Nikolay Semyonov (1956)· Alexander Todd (1957)·Frederick Sanger (1958)· Jaroslav Heyrovský (1959)· Willard Libby (1960)·Melvin Calvin (1961)· Max Perutz / John Kendrew (1962)· Karl Ziegler / Giulio Natta (1963)·Dorothy Hodgkin (1964)· Robert Woodward (1965)· Robert S. Mulliken (1966) Manfred Eigen / Ronald Norrish / George Porter (1967) · Lars Onsager (1968)· Derek Barton / Odd Hassel (1969)·Luis Federico Leloir (1970)· Gerhard Herzberg (1971)· Christian B. Anfinsen / Stanford Moore / William Stein (1972) · Ernst Otto Fischer / Geoffrey Wilkinson (1973)· Paul Flory (1974)·John Warcup Cornforth / Vladimir Prelog (1975)
1976–2000
Lispkombas (1976)·Prigožinas (1977)· Mičelis (1978)· Braunas / Vitigas (1979)· Bergas / Gilbertas / Sangeris (1980) · Fukujis / Hofmanas (1981)·Klagas (1982)· Taubė (1983)· Merifildas (1984)· Hauptmanas / Karlis (1985)· Dudley R. Herschbach / Yuan T. Lee / John Polanyi (1986) ·Donald James Cram / Jean-Marie Lehn / Charles J. Pedersen (1987) ·Johann Deisenhofer / Robert Huber / Hartmut Michel (1988) · Sidney Altman / Thomas Cech (1989)·Elias Corey (1990)· Richard R. Ernst (1991)· Rudolph A. Marcus (1992)· Kary Mullis / Smitas (1993)· Olahas (1994)·Paul Jozef Crutzen / Mario J. Molina / Roulandas (1995) ·Robert F. Curl Jr. / Kroto / Richard Smalley (1996) · Paul D. Boyer / John E. Walker / Jens Christian Skou (1997) · Walter Kohn / John Pople (1998)· Ahmed Zewail (1999)· Higeris / Makdiarmidas / Širakava (2000)
