Award for Scholarly Distinction
In 1984 the AHA Council established the American Historical Association Award for Scholarly Distinction to honor senior historians in the United States. Previous awards have gone to 77 eminent scholars.
AHA members are now invited to submit nominations. According to the selection criteria, recipients must be senior historians of the highest distinction who have spent the bulk of their professional careers in the United States. Generally, they must also be of emeritus rank, if from academic life, or equivalent standing otherwise. Under normal circumstances the award is not intended to go to former presidents of the Association; rather, the intent is to honor persons not otherwise recognized by the profession to an extent commensurate with their contributions.
The Committee on Honorary Foreign Members and Awards for Scholarly Distinction will serve as the jury and will recommend up to three individuals for approval at the Council's spring meeting. The Committee consists of the president, president-elect, and the immediate past president. The honoree(s) will be announced at the Association’s annual meeting.
The annual deadline for receiving nominations is April 1.
A complete nomination should include (1) a letter of nomination that contains specific details addressing the criteria listed above and (2) a two- to three-page CV of the nominee with a summary of major publications and career highlights. Additional letters of support can also be submitted, provided the entire package does not exceed 10 pages in length. Nomination materials should be sent electronically to awards@historians.org, and include "Award for Scholarly Distinction: [Nominee's Name]" in the subject line.
2020 Awards for Scholarly Distinction
David Levering Lewis, New York University
David Levering Lewis is Julius Silver University Professor and professor of history at New York University. His scholarly work ranges over millennia and continents. In his eight monographs he has explored a wide variety of themes and individuals, in many instances synthesizing a massive amount of material and bringing to each project a fresh, bold perspective. Lewis’s erudition, capacious scholarly reach, and brilliant contributions to the literature establish him as one of the most distinguished historians today. He has enlightened audiences in and outside the academy on the history and meaning of ideologies such as racism, and on the significance of social movements around the world through time.
Leslie P. Peirce, New York University
Leslie P. Peirce, a world-renowned Ottomanist, is Silver Professor and professor of history at New York University. She holds appointments in the departments of history and Middle Eastern studies. Peirce is a pioneering and resourceful and interpreter of Ottoman texts and archival researcher (especially in Islamic court records). She has played a major, transformative role in not only the field of Ottoman history, but also in the history of women and gender in the Middle East. Her scholarship has compelled a reconsideration of Ottoman rule and dynastic practices, the role of the harem in elite Ottoman culture, and the way that the Ottoman administration worked with the court system to integrate disparate populations as the empire expanded.
David Warren Sabean, University of California, Los Angeles
David Warren Sabean is professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he held the Henry J. Bruman Endowed Professorship. Sabean’s scholarly production is as prodigious as it is distinguished. His mixture of interdisciplinary insights and methods, principally anthropology, and range of subjects has influenced generations of historians. A sensitivity to the world of rural society and its workings characterizes his scholarship. Sabean has held visiting and distinguished academic appointments at numerous institutes and universities in the United States and Europe as well has having received major awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.