Distinguished alumni honored with Wilbur Cross Medal
Four distinguished alumni of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were awarded 2026 Wilbur Cross Medals on October 19. This year’s honorees include a Nobel Prize–winning economist, an HIV researcher, an earthquake expert, and a groundbreaking classicist.
Carol Carter ’72PhD (microbiology) was honored for her study of retroviruses spanning many decades. Her work on HIV at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s helped reveal the structure of the virus; how it reproduces by hijacking hosts’ cells; and how the hosts’ cells respond to this invasion.
James Dieterich ’68PhD (geology/geophysics) is one of the world’s most renowned scientists in the field of earthquake physics. He was recognized for his work that established the modem model of earthquake physics and helped identify ways to mitigate earthquake hazards.
Amy Richlin ’78PhD (classics) is an internationally renowned scholar of ancient Roman poetry, sexuality, social history, and culture. Considered one of the most influential classicists of her generation, she was honored for her work on outgroups and muted groups in the Roman empire: women, slaves, sexual minorities, and indigenous peoples in the provinces.
James Robinson ’93PhD (economics) works at the intersection of economics, history, and political science to understand why there are such extreme differences in the standard of living in countries and societies around the world. He was honored for his Nobel Prize–winning work on how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.
The Wilbur Cross Medal honors the legacy of service and excellence inaugurated by Wilbur Lucius Cross (1889PhD), who served as dean of the Graduate School from 1916 to 1930, and as governor of Connecticut from 1930 to 1939. The award is the highest honor that the Graduate School bestows on its alumni.
loading
Print
Email