Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Medalists

Each June, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the...

Each June, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the school’s founding, honors alumni who have made contributions to society that emerged from their graduate study at Harvard. This year’s honorands are, from left, Nobel Prize-winner and former Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean A. Michael Spence, Ph.D. ’72, a leader in both economics and higher-education administration; MIT professor Michael Artin, Ph.D. ’60, an architect of the modern approach to algebraic geometry; Elaine H. Pagels, Ph.D. ’70, an expert on the origins of Christianity; and Nobel Prize-winner H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D. ’74, a molecular biologist who has done foundational work in the study of cell apoptosis. 

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Most popular

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Ronny Chieng Tells Harvard to ‘Destroy AI’ as Graduates Cheer

The comedian and The Daily Show host gave the keynote address for Class Day 2026.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.

Two figures stand before a large, colorful pixelated face against a yellow background.

Harvard scientists identify hundreds of genes under selective pressure.

Singer performing on stage with a guitar, wearing a hat, and surrounded by band instruments.

Singer Elisa Smith’s whiskey-soaked voice and subversive feminism is part of the genre’s urban shift.