I 2009 modtog Steitz [[nobelprisen i kemi]] sammen med [[Venkatraman Ramakrishnan]] og [[Ada Yonath]] "for studier af strukturen og funktionen af [[ribosom]]et".<ref name=laureates>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/|title = 2009 Chemistry Nobel Laureates|year=2009|publisher=Nobel Foundation|accessdate=2009-10-14}}</ref><ref name="Rodnina Wintermeyer 2010 pp. 1–5">{{cite journal | last=Rodnina | first=Marina V. | last2=Wintermeyer | first2=Wolfgang | title=The ribosome goes Nobel | journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=35 | issue=1 | year=2010 | pages=1–5 | url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2009.11.003 | doi=10.1016/j.tibs.2009.11.003 | pmid=19962317 | accessdate=2015-06-17}}</ref><ref name=ramak>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419055305/http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/|archivedate=2015-04-19|url=http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/|title=Venkatraman_Ramakrishnan|publisher=University of Cambridge}}</ref><ref>[http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/ramakrishnan_steitz.html Biography and Bibliographic Resources], from the [[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]], [[United States Department of Energy]]</ref><ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/ramakrishnan-interview.html Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Audio Interview] Official Nobel Foundation website telephone interview</ref> 
Steitz modtog også Gairdner International Award i 2007<ref name="Tom Steitz">[http://steitzlab.yale.edu/people/thomas-steitz Thomas Steitz], Thomas Steitz Lab.</ref> "for sine studier af [[ribosom]]ets struktur og funktion som viste at [[peptid|peptidyl]][[transferase]] var en [[RNA]]-katalyseret reaktion, og for at kortlægge mekanismen bag inhiberingen af denne funktion med [[antibiotika]]".<ref>[http://www.gairdner.org/awards/awardees2/20071998/2007awarde/thomasaste Thomas A. Steitz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804150638/http://www.gairdner.org/awards/awardees2/20071998/2007awarde/thomasaste |date= 4. august 2009 }}, The Gairdner 50 Foundation.</ref>
Kemi