For his work, Woodward received many awards, honors and honorary doctorates, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1948, the National Academy of Sciences in 1953, the American Philosophical Society in 1962, and membership in academies around the world. He was also a consultant to many companies such as Polaroid, Pfizer, and Merck. Other awards include:
* John Scott Medal, from the Franklin Institute and City of Philadelphia, 1945
* Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award, from the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society, 1955
* Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1956
* Davy Medal, from the Royal Society in 1959
* Roger Adams Medal, from the American Chemical Society in 1961
* Pius XI Gold Medal, from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1969
* National Medal of Science from the United States in 1964 ("For an imaginative new approach to the synthesis of complex organic molecules and, especially, for his brilliant syntheses of strychnine, reserphine, lysergic acid, and chlorophyll.")
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1965
* Willard Gibbs Award from the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society in 1967
* Lavoisier Medal from the Société chimique de France in 1968
* The Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class from the Emperor of Japan in 1970
* Hanbury Memorial Medal from The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1970
* Pierre Bruylants Medal from the University of Louvain in 1970
* AMA Scientific Achievement Award in 1971
* Cope Award from the American Chemical Society, shared with Roald Hoffmann in 1973
* Copley Medal from the Royal Society, London in 1978