Harvard honors societal contributions

Graduate school alumni receive highest honors

Clockwise from far left: Judith Lasker, Bruce Alberts, Leo Marx, and Keith Christiansen

Clockwise from far left: Judith Lasker, Bruce Alberts, Leo Marx, and Keith Christiansen | Photograph by Bethany Versoy/courtesy of Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science

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 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 2014 recipients, announced at a ceremony on May 28, are: Bruce Alberts, Ph.D. ’66, Chancellor’s Leadership Chair in biochemistry and biophysics for science and education at the University of California, San Francisco; Keith Christiansen, Ph.D. ’77, Pope-Hennessy chairman of the department of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Judith Lasker, Ph.D. ’76, the N.E.H. Distinguished Professor of sociology at Lehigh University; and Leo Marx ’41, Ph.D. ’50, Kenan professor of American cultural history emeritus in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society. For more about the honorands, see https://harvardmagazine.com/2014/05/centennial-medalists.

You might also like

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

Graduates John Lithgow, Bill Rauch, and Bess Wohl took home prizes on Sunday night.

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

Most popular

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

He was Harvard’s quintessential people person

The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead

 A Harvard botanist investigates mystic potions, voodoo rites, and the making of zombies.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with long, silver hair rests her chin on her hand, wearing a black top.

Author and Harvard Divinity School writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams finds beauty in the world around us.

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.

Vibrant urban scene at dusk featuring a mural on a building and illuminated structures.

The Goel Center in Allston will open for performances in the fall of 2026.