In 1998, the Fred Hutchinson Business Alliance announced that the 1998 E. Donnall Thomas Medal of Achievement would be awarded to William H. Gates.

The Thomas Medal of Achievement is named after E. Donnall Thomas, M.D., a founding member of the Hutchinson Center who in 1990 received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his pioneering achievements in bone-marrow transplantation, which have saved thousands of lives.