White House awards three medalists
President Barack Obama on Feb. 10 announced the nine winners of the 2011 National Humanities Medals, awarded for outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, philosophy, and musicology. Two from Harvard were among those recognized: economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor; and historian Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and University librarian. The medals will be presented at a White House ceremony today. Harvard Overseer Emily Rauh Pulitzer, founder and chair of The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, was also honored as a recipient of the 2011 National Medal of Arts. In the official release, Darnton was honored “for his determination to make knowledge accessible to everyone. As an author he has illuminated the world of Enlightenment and Revolutionary France, and as a librarian he has endeavored to make his vision for a comprehensive national library of digitized books a reality.” Sen was recognized “for his insights...