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 studies. It is the highest honor GSAS bestows, and awardees include some of Harvard’s most accomplished alumni. The 2020 recipients, announced on May 27, are: Stephen Cook, Ph.D. ’66, a computational theorist and mathematician; Albert Fishlow, Ph.D. ’63, a development economist and historian; Margaret Kivelson ’50, Ph.D. ’57, RI ’66, a space and planetary physicist; and Helen Vendler, Ph.D. ’60, Porter University Professor emerita, beloved Harvard teacher and poetry critic. For more about the honorands, see harvardmag.com/centennial-20.
Centennial Medalists

Clockwise from top left: Stephen Cook, Albert Fishlow, Helen Vendler, and Margaret Kivelson.
Photographs courtesy of Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
You might also like
Harvard Medical School Renames Diversity Office, Revamps Recruitment Program
The latest in a broader rollback of DEI at the University
Harvard Cancelled Affinity Celebrations. Students Held Them Anyway.
In hotels, parks, and churches, graduates decried the end of DEI programs.
Harvard Ramps Up Fundraising as Research Cuts Deepen
This week in the battle between Harvard and the Trump administration
Most popular
Explore More From Current Issue
The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy
Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.
Saluting the 2025 Centennial Medalists
Four alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are honored.