GSAS Awards Centennial Medals to Neil Harris and Robert Zimmer
At a ceremony on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) awarded the Centennial Medal to Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art History, and Robert Zimmer, PhD ’75, University Chancellor; President Emeritus, both of the University of Chicago.
Museums and libraries, shopping malls, art and design, illustrated children’s literature, world’s fairs, and P. T. Barnum are all institutions woven into the fabric of American life—and all have had the depth of their cultural significance brought to light by Neil Harris. An expert on visual and material culture, and a founder of the academic discipline of cultural history, Harris has shone a light on those who may not have been considered significant creators of culture but who in fact were responsible for many important historical developments in American society.