Shared Effort

Princeton University professor and Princeton AlumniCorps Board member  Stanley Katz, a well-known scholar of American legal history and educational institutions has been awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.

The medal honors those whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of and engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand access to important resources in the humanities. Katz and Oates were among 10 individuals presented with the award at a White House ceremony Wednesday, March 2.

Katz, who has taught at Princeton since 1978, is a lecturer with the rank of professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and director of the school’s Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies.

Since 1986, when he became president of the American Council of Learned Societies, Katz has been at the forefront of the study of higher education and philanthropies. He is known for his frequent commentaries on current issues in the academy.

Katz has excelled in guiding numerous influential American humanities organizations, serving as the head of more than 60 of them over the course of his career, including the Organization of American Historians and the American Society for Legal History. He is the author or editor of 15 books or book series, including the “Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States” and the six-volume “Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History.” His most recent research focuses on the relationship of civil society and constitutionalism to democracy and the relationship of the United States to the international human rights regime.

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. More information on the winners can be found on the endowment’s website.

To view video of the awards presentation, click here. Professor Katz’s presentation is at minute 21:00.