Commencement '22: and now, in person again

Recipients of teaching prizes

Stephanie Newell, professor of English and interim chair, Council on African Studies: the Sidonie Miskimin Clauss Prize for teaching excellence in the humanities.

Marla Geha, professor of astronomy and physics: the Dylan Hixon ’88 Prize for teaching excellence in the natural sciences.

Woo-Kyoung Ahn, the John Hay Whitney Professor of Psychology: the Lex Hixon ’63 Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences.

Karin Roffman ’04PhD, senior lecturer in humanities, English, and American studies and associate director of public humanities: cowinner of the Richard H. Brodhead ’68 Prize for teaching excellence by non-ladder faculty.

Quan Tran ’16PhD, senior lecturer in ethnicity, race, and migration and in American studies: cowinner of the Richard H. Brodhead ’68 Prize for teaching excellence by non-ladder faculty.

Kenneth Winkler, the Kingman Brewster Jr. Professor of Philosophy and acting chair of philosophy: the Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize, for a faculty member who “over a long period of service has inspired a great number of students and consistently fostered the learning process both inside and outside the classroom.”

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Recipients of honorary degrees

Caroline Shaw ’07, youngest-ever recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music, who performs “around the globe as violin soloist, chamber musician, and vocalist”: Doctor of Music.

Krista Tippett ’94MDiv, National Humanities medalist and CEO of the On Being Project for the “intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, community, poetry, and the arts”: Doctor of Divinity.

Madeleine Albright (in memoriam), US Secretary of State who advocated “humanitarian intervention in Kosovo and sanctions in Iraq” and who received the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom: Doctor of Humane Letters.

James Clyburn, third-ranking Democrat in the US House of Representatives, who champions “rural and economic development . . . and healthcare equality” and is often seen as a “hero of democracy”: Doctor of Humane Letters.

Jill Lepore ’95PhD, historian writing “on American history, law, literature, and politics” and whose books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award: Doctor of Humanities.

Myron Thompson ’69, ’72JD, long-serving judge in Alabama who is “known for his judgments in notable cases relating to desegregation, prison and voting systems, and women’s rights”: Doctor of Laws.

Jean Bennett ’76, physician, researcher, and gene therapy pioneer, who, with two others, “received the first FDA approval of gene therapy for a genetic disease”: Doctor of Medical Sciences.

Katalin Karikó, biochemist and specialist in RNA-mediated mechanisms, whose work “is the cornerstone for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine”: Doctor of Science.

Drew Weissman, immunologist, whose “findings of the safety and efficacy of nucleoside-modified mRNA have moved this technology to the forefront of new therapeutics”: Doctor of Science.

Orlando Patterson, sociologist and author, who writes on “the culture and practice of freedom, slavery, and ethno-racial relations, . . . and the role of poverty in shaping culture”: Doctor of Social Science.