He has been elected to US National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian Academy of Sciences, Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, Italy, and German National Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of the 2006 Acta Materialia Gold Medal, 2007 European Materials Medal, 2008 Eringen Medal of the Society of Engineering Science, and a Senior Humboldt Research Prize from Germany. Suresh holds an honorary doctorate from Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology. In 2006, MIT's Technology Review magazine selected Suresh as one of the top 10 researchers whose work in nanomechanics of biological systems will have "significant impact on business, medicine or culture".