Press: “Medals Honor Humanities: Harvard Affiliates Win National Humanities Medals”

“Harvard affiliates took home three of the nine National Humanities Medals awarded for 2011, in a ceremony earlier this week at the White House.

“Columbia professor Andrew H. Delbanco ’73, who holds three Harvard degrees, University Professor Robert C. Darnton ’60, and University Professor Amartya Sen received their medals for their contributions to the study of the humanities in the United States.

“The medal winners were announced last Friday, and they received their awards personally from President Barack Obama on Monday.”

[…]

“Darnton, a history professor and the university librarian, received his medal for ‘his determination to make knowledge accessible to everyone,’ according to the White House press release. Darnton has co-led the national effort to launch the Digital Public Library of America—an online collection that might eventually include every volume ever printed and would be freely accessible to every American citizen.”

From Jared T. Lucky’s article in the Harvard Crimson, Medals Honor Humanities: Harvard Affiliates Win National Humanities Medals