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.
2020 GSAS Centennial Medalists
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ honorands
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 Alumni Win Two 2026 Nobel Prizes
Karl Deisseroth revolutionized neuroscience. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has adjudicated cases in international courts concerning genocide.
They Might Be (Harvard) Giants
Two tales of University greats—and an encounter with a Tiger
Resculpting an Empire, Through Kitchen Scraps
Artists Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien turn a colonial symbol from Cambodia inside out.
Most popular
Explore More From Current Issue
As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?
Researchers at Harvard Kennedy School say yes.
The Harvard triathlete and coach says she helps normal people to “do extraordinary things.”