The Hutchins Center Honors W. E. B. Du Bois Medal Ceremony

The W. E. B. Du Bois Medal is Harvard's highest honor in the field of African and African American studies. It is awarded to individuals in the United States and across the globe in recognition of their contributions to African and African American culture and the life of the mind. Recipients have included scholars, artists, writers, journalists, philanthropists, and public servants whose work has bolstered the field of African and African American studies.

Harvard Gazette (Sept 29, 2023): 'Eight honorees announced as W.E.B. Du Bois Medalists'

Watch 2022 Ceremony on YouTube

W. E. B. Du Bois Medal Recipients

Clifford Darden

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Founding Member of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School
Shirley Ann Jackson

Shirley Ann Jackson

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Pamela Joyner

Pamela Joyner

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
MBA '84
Art Collector & Philanthropist
Florence Ladd

Florence Ladd

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Director Emerita of the Bunting Institute & Professor
Lillian  Lincoln Lambert

Lillian Lincoln Lambert

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Founding Member of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School
Theodore Lewis

Theodore Lewis

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Founding Member of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School

George Price

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Founding Member of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School
(awarded posthumously)
Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
JD '85, MPP '85, LLD '15
Founder / Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
Leroy Willis

Leroy Willis

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2018
Founding Member of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School
Richard D. Cohen

Richard D. Cohen

Vice Chair, National Advisory Board
Chairman, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2013 and 2015
maya

Maya Angelou

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2014
(awarded posthumously)
John Lewis

John Lewis

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2013 (received 2014)
Richard D. Cohen

Richard D. Cohen

Vice Chair, National Advisory Board
Chairman, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2013 and 2015
EBH

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

Department Chair and Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies
Hutchins Center Executive Committee; Editor, African American National Biography
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2013
John Lewis

John Lewis

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2013 (received 2014)
Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2019
Poet, Educator, and President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Rita Dove

Rita Dove

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2019
Poet
Sheila C. Johnson

Sheila C. Johnson

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2019
Philanthropist, Co-Founder of Black Entertainment Television
Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2019
Musical Artist, Producer, Actor
Robert F. Smith

Robert F. Smith

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2019
Philanthropist and Founder, Chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners
Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2022
Actress, Producer, LGBT Advocate

With various ‘firsts’ in her already impressive career, Laverne Cox is a four-...

Read more about Laverne Cox
Agnes Gund

Agnes Gund

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2022
President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Founder of Studio in a School

Agnes Gund is president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and chair of its...

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Raymond J. McGuire

Raymond J. McGuire

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2022
Business Executive, Philanthropist, Chairman of the Studio Museum in Harlem

With a career spanning nearly four decades, Raymond J, McGuire has distinguished himself as a leader in the financial world as well as a philanthropist...

Read more about Raymond J. McGuire
Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick

W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2022
71st Governor of Massachusetts, Civil Rights Leader

Mr. Patrick is Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership and a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a Senior Advisor to...

Read more about Deval Patrick

PREVIOUS MEDALISTS - DU BOIS INSTITUTE

2000

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2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Lawrence D. Bobo

Lawrence D. Bobo

Dean of Social Science and W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences
Hutchins Center Executive Committee, ex officio; Founding Editor, Du Bois Review
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2005
Marcyliena Morgan

Marcyliena Morgan

Director Emerita, Hiphop Archive & Research Institute
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2005

2006

Glenn H. Hutchins

Glenn H. Hutchins

Chair, National Advisory Board
Hutchins Center Executive Committee, ex officio
W. E. B. Du Bois Medalist, 2006

Glenn Hutchins is chairman of North Island and North Island Ventures, and co-founder of Silver Lake. 

He is on the board of...

Read more about Glenn H. Hutchins

2007

2008

2009