Centennial Medalists for 2012 include Aaron, Eikenberry, Hopkins, Keohane

A literary scholar, an East Asia expert, a trailblazing biologist, and a specialist on international relations are honored.

Top row, from left: Daniel Aaron and Karl Eikenberry. Bottom row, from left: Nancy Hopkins and Robert Keohane

Top row, from left: Daniel Aaron and Karl Eikenberry. Bottom row, from left: Nancy Hopkins and Robert Keohane | Photographs by Martha Stewart

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the school’s hundredth anniversary, honors alumni who have made notable contributions to society that emerged from their graduate study at Harvard. It is the highest honor the Graduate School bestows, and awardees include some of Harvard’s most accomplished alumni. The 2012 recipients, announced at a ceremony on May 23, are: Daniel Aaron, Ph.D. ’43, Litt.D. ’07, founding president of the Library of America and Thomas professor of English and American literature emeritus at Harvard; East Asia expert Karl Eikenberry, A.M. ’81, a political and military leader who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2011; Nancy Hopkins ’64, Ph.D. ’71, a professor of biology at MIT who has blazed a trail for women in science; and international-relations scholar Robert Keohane, Ph.D. ’66, professor of public and international affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School.

You might also like

The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum reunites for a 50th anniversary tour around France.

He was Harvard’s quintessential people person.

The former economics concentrator brings his talent for crunching numbers to netminding.

Most popular

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

College staff whose jobs will be changed or eliminated were notified this week.

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.

Explore More From Current Issue

Graduates in caps and gowns celebrate joyfully, raising their hands in excitement.

Conan O’Brien headlines a star-studded cast

A blue refrigerator covered with animal pictures, notes, and drawings, surrounded by greenery.

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

Aerial view of modern high-rise buildings surrounded by greenery and city skyline.

In a sea of red brick, the Science Center and Peabody Terrace make their mark.