Catalogue

Bard College Awards

Each year Bard College honors a number of distinguished men and women whose accomplishments exemplify the values and traditions that the College seeks to teach and preserve.

Mary McCarthy Award

Previous recipients of the award, which honors the combination of political and cultural commitment exemplified by this fearless writer, include Elizabeth Hardwick, Susan Sontag, Jane Kramer, Janet Malcolm, Frances FitzGerald, Nadine Gordimer, Shirley Hazzard, Annie Proulx, Joan Didion, Cynthia Ozick, Joyce Carol Oates, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, Ann Beattie, Deborah Eisenberg, Mona Simpson, Sharon Olds, Alice McDermott, Jorie Graham, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Lorrie Moore, Judith Thurman, Carolyn Forché, Claudia Rankine, and Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge.

2023 Recipient: Katherine Boo

Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters

The Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters is given in recognition of a significant contribution to the American artistic or literary heritage. It is named in honor of Charles Flint Kellogg (1909–80), a Bard College alumnus and trustee who was an internationally respected historian and educator. Dr. Kellogg was instrumental in establishing the Arts and Letters Award, which, before his death, was given in the name of Alfred Jay Nock, the noted journalist and biographer who was also a Bard alumnus and faculty member.

Previous recipients include Mary Lee Settle, Isaac Bashevis Singer, E. L. Doctorow, Anthony Hecht ’44, John Ashbery, Susan Rothenberg, Stephen Sondheim, Elliott Carter, John Tyrrell, Henry Luce III, Sidney Geist ’35, Jonathan Tunick ’58, Rhoda Levine ’53, Mary Caponegro ’78, Arthur Aviles ’87, Joanna Haigood ’79, Rikki Ducornet ’64, Daniel Manus Pinkwater ’63, John P. Boylan ’67, Anne Bogart ’74, Sandra Sammataro Phillips ’67, Henry-Louis de La Grange, Gilbert Kaplan, Donald Mitchell, David Gates ’69, Rita McBride ’82, Jane Evelyn Atwood ’70, Christopher Guest ’70, Mimi Levitt, Chris Claremont ’72, Charles E. Pierce Jr., Elizabeth Prince ’83, Miriam Roskin Berger ’56, Nikolay E. Koposov, Billy Steinberg ’72, James D. Wolfensohn, Adam Yauch ’86, Carolee Schneemann ’59, Ashim Ahluwalia ’95, Amy Sillman MFA ’95, Deborah Borda, Charlotte Mandell ’90, Steven Sapp ’89 and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp ’92, Nick Jones ’01, Walead Beshty ’99, Alexandra Elliott Wentworth ’88, Xaviera Simmons ’05, Paul Chan MFA ’03, and R. H. Quaytman ’83.

2023 Recipient: Layli Long Soldier MFA ’14

John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science

The John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science is named after two 18th-century physicians, father and son, whose descendant, John Bard, was the founder of Bard College. This award honors a scientist whose achievements demonstrate the breadth of concern and depth of commitment that characterized these pioneer physicians.


Previous recipients include Detlev Bronk, Robert Loeb, Lewis Thomas, John Hilton Knowles, Martin Cherkasky, Linus Pauling, Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, Carl Djerassi, Stephen Jay Gould, Mathilde Krim, Anne Botstein, MD, the late Charles Botstein, MD, Naomi Parver Alazraki ’62, Naomi Fox Rothfield ’50, John W. Boylan, Yale Nemerson ’53, Manon P. Charbonneau ’65, Karen Saxe ’82, Ann Ho ’62, George D. Rose ’63, Stewart I. Fefer ’73, Frank Oja, László Z. Bitó ’60, Richard M. Ransohoff ’68, Robert Levenson ’67, Sanford M. Simon, Amalia C. Kelly ’75, Albert R. Matlin ’77, Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden, Joel H. Fields ’53, MD, Stephen A. Wertheimer ’59, A. James Hudspeth, Richard C. Friedman ’61, Fredric S. Maxik ’86, Nicholas T. Ktistakis ’83, Kathryn E. Stein ’66, Ilyas Washington ’96, Erik Kiviat ’76, Mariana Raykova ’06, Rebecca Smith ’93, Tatiana M. Prowell ’94, Juliet Morrison ’03, Brianna Norton ’00, and Chidi Chike Achebe ’92.

2023 Recipient: Babacar Cisse ’03 

John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service

The John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service was established in 1990 to recognize extraordinary contributions by Bard alumni/ae and others to the public sector or in the public interest. It continues Bard’s tradition of honoring public service, embodied in the Episcopal Layman Award, which was given until 1983. The Dewey Award is named to honor the eminent American philosopher and educator John Dewey, the father of progressive education and an outspoken advocate of a ­system of universal learning to support and advance this country’s democratic traditions.

Previous recipients include Brandon Grove Jr. ’50, Helene L. Kaplan, Jack A. Blum ’61, Arthur I. Blaustein ’57, James H. Ottaway Jr., Elisabeth A. Semel ’72, Barbara D. Finberg, Connie Bard Fowle ’80, Amy L. Comstock ’81, Robert J. MacAlister ’50, Earl Shorris, Kenneth S. Stern ’75, James N. Rosenau ’48, Jennifer H. Madans ’73, William T. Dickens ’76, the Reverend Stephen J. Chinlund, Richard G. Frank ’74, Roy L. Herrmann ’76, David L. Miller, Elizabeth Royte ’81, Jeffrion L. Aubry, Manuel J. Rivera, Hannah “Kit” Kauders Ellenbogen ’52, Mary D. Janney, Marion Nestle, Raymond Peterson, Pia Carusone ’03, Stephen M. Saland, José A. Aponte ’73, Valery Mikhailovich Monakhov, Herb Sturz, Alexis Papahelas ’83, Sean Patrick Maloney, Harvey L. Sterns ’65, Catherine Gund, David Harman, Betsaida Alcantara ’05, Mary T. Bassett, Cynthia Conti-Cook ’03, Sonja Brookins Santelises, Marya Warshaw ’73, Nicholas Ascienzo, Matthew Taibbi ’92, Nsikan Akpan ’06, and Michael Zach Korzyk MAT ’07.

2023 Recipients: Tom Begich ’82 and Ting Ting Cheng ’02

Bard Medal

The Bard Medal, the highest award given by the Bard College Alumni/ae Association, honors individuals whose efforts on behalf of Bard have significantly advanced the welfare of the College. The Bard Medal was the inspiration of Charles Flint Kellogg, who believed that Bard should establish an award recognizing outstanding service to the College.

Recipients have most often been Bard alumni/ae, trustees, or very close associates of the College, including Eva T. Belefant ’49, John H. Steinway ’39, David E. Schwab II ’52, William F. Rueger ’40, Mrs. Reamer Kline, Hart Perry, Dr. Abe Gelbart, Charles Patrick, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall, Mary Sugatt, the Reverend Frederick Q. Shafer ’37, Kate Wolff, Elizabeth and Heinz O. Bertelsmann, Asher B. Edelman ’61, Arnold Davis ’44, Elizabeth Ely ’65, Annys N. Baxter Wilson ’48, Charles P. Stevenson Jr., Susan Weber, S. William Senfeld ’62, Peter McCabe ’70, Cynthia Hirsch Levy ’65, Diana Hirsch Friedman ’68, Margaret Creal Shafer, Karen Olah ’65, Stuart Stritzler-Levine, Michael DeWitt ’65, Richard D. Griffiths, Richard B. Fisher, Felicitas S. Thorne, Stanley A. Reichel ’65, Ruth Schwartz Schwab ’52, Lorelle Marcus Phillips ’57, Robert C. Edmonds ’68, Emily H. Fisher, Richard F. Koch ’40, John and Wendy Neu, Roger Phillips ’53, Toni and Martin T. Sosnoff, Marieluise Hessel, Patricia Ross Weis, Charles Simmons, James H. Ottaway Jr., Eric Warren Goldman ’98, U Ba Win, George A. Kellner, Barbara S. Grossman ’73, Emily Tow, Charles S. Johnson III ’70, and George F. Hamel. The Bard Medal has also been presented to individuals whose work has advanced the course of higher education, including Hamilton Fish Jr. and Warren Anderson.

2023 Recipient: Roland J. Augustine

Bardian Award

Recipients also include Peter Sourian, Robert Rockman, William Weaver, Luis Garcia-Renart, Adolfas Mekas, Hilton M. Weiss, Elizabeth “Betty” Shea, Richard A. Gordon, Mark Lambert ’62, Aileen Passloff, Jean M. French, JoAnne Akalaitis, Burton Brody, Frederick Hammond, John B. Ferguson, William Griffith, Jane Hryshko, Jane Terney Korn, Nancy S. Leonard, William T. Maple, Joan Retallack, Benjamin La Farge, Mark Lytle, Martha J. Olson, Justus Rosenberg, Hap Tivey, Carolyn Dewald, Terence F. Dewsnap, Gennady Shkliarevsky, Peter D. Skiff, Mario J. A. Bick, Diana De G. Brown, Marsha Davis, Larry Fink, Norman Manea, Mary Backlund, Jeffrey Katz, Ken Cooper, John Halle, David Kettler, Robert Martin, Alice Stroup, Dawn Upshaw, Carol Werner, Peggy Ahwesh, Matthew Deady, Bonnie R. Marcus ’71, Richard Teitelbaum (posthumously), Peggy Florin, Medrie MacPhee, Amie McEvoy, Marcia Acita, Thurman Barker, Norton Batkin, Daniel Berthold, Ken Buhler, Jean Churchill, Randy Clum Sr., Richard H. Davis, and Joseph Santore.

2023 Recipients: Sanjib Baruah, Laura Battle, Michèle D. Dominy, Ellen Driscoll, Robert Kelly, , Michael Lerner, Lucy Sante, Jean Wagner, and Li-hua Ying (posthumously)