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.
2019 Awards for Scholarly Distinction
Mary Elizabeth Berry, Univ. of California, Berkeley
Mary Elizabeth Berry, Class of 1944 Professor of History emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, helped shape the fields of pre-modern Japanese political, social, and cultural history. Berry was the first woman ever to chair the Department of History at Berkeley and chaired three other departments there as well. Her professional achievements were recognized by her election as president of the Association for Asian Studies in 2004–05 and as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.
Evelyn S. Rawski, Univ. of Pittsburgh
The scholarship of Evelyn Sakakida Rawski, Distinguished University Professor emerita in the Department of History of the University of Pittsburgh, spans cultural, social, and political history of China and the Qing empire. She has contributed notably to the major thematic innovations and revisions of the China field since the 1970s. Her earliest books mark the advent of a “China-centered” historiographical trend—one that moved away from earlier emphasis on relations with and comparisons to the West to questions of Chinese history from a Chinese perspective.