Strangers in a strange land

Recipients of teaching prizes

Jacqueline Goldsby ’98PhD, Professor of English, of African American Studies, and of American Studies: the Sidonie Miskimin Clauss ’75 Prize for teaching excellence in the humanities

Andrew Johnston, Assistant Professor of Classics and of History: the Sarai Ribicoff ’79 Award for teaching excellence in Yale College

Angela Lee-Smith, Senior Lector in East Asian Languages and Literatures: the Richard H. Brodhead ’68 Prize for teaching excellence by a lecturer or lector

Gilbert Joseph ’78PhD, the Farnam Professor of History and International Studies: the Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall teaching prize

Nikhil Padmanabhan, Associate Professor of Physics and of Astronomy: the Dylan Hixon ’88 Prize for teaching excellence in the natural sciences and mathematics

Frances Rosenbluth, the Damon Wells Professor of Political Science: the Lex Hixon ’63 Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences

Recipients of honorary degrees

Marin Alsop ’77, Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, a “magnificent maestro” whose “career is studded with firsts”: Doctor of Music

Jessie Little Doe Baird, cofounder of the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project, whose “commitment to the past, present, and future of indigenous communities has made an enduring contribution”: Doctor of Social Science

Cornelia Bargmann, a neurobiologist whose “pathbreaking research” on the roundworm is “unlocking the secrets of the human brain” and whose work on the national BRAIN Initiative will help other scientists studying the brain: Doctor of Science

Irwin Jacobs, a leader of the “data revolution,” who developed technology used in cell phones around the world, and a philanthropist who “celebrate[s] . . . the arts, culture, and education”: Doctor of Engineering and Technology 

John Kerry ’66, decorated Navy veteran and “esteemed statesman,” who, as a US Senator and then as Secretary of State, “served this country and its people for over three decades”: Doctor of Laws

John R. Lewis, who has been, “from the Edmund Pettus Bridge . . . to the halls of the US Congress,” a “devoted champion of America and of all its people,” with “inspiring results”:  Doctor of Laws

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “author, playwright, activist, and scholar,” who has “worked in prison cells and in exile and . . . survived assassination attempts,” and has “shown us the power of words to change the world”: Doctor of Letters

Stevie Wonder, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who has “brought joy to millions” and has “always sung to us in the Key of Life, while working to help the poor, sick, and marginalized”: Doctor of Music