History professors Anthony Grafton, Hendrik Hartog and Robert Tignor received The Daily Princetonian Award at the newspaper's annual banquet Wednesday night.
The professors won the award for their efforts to engender intellectual discussion after Sept. 11.
The three professors organized an open-ended discussion including faculty, graduate and undergraduate students.
Generally given to a student or student group, this year's award to professors is a rare occurrence.
"We chose these three history professors because we were impressed by the interaction of the University community at this forum," said Dan Stephens '02, last year's 'Prince' editor-in-chief. "It was an honest, open discussion held by some of the best historians in the world as well as some of the smartest undergraduate and graduate students."
A tradition that began in the late 1940s, the outgoing managing board selects a recipient who has contributed in some way to the quality of campus life outside academics and athletics.
In an effort to help the University community come to terms with the tragedy, the three professors initiated the discussion.
They sent a short e-mail to the history department list inviting members to an open discussion on Sept. 14, relying on word of mouth to inform the rest of the University community.
The turnout was surprising, Tignor said. Approximately 150 members of the University community packed into a small room on the upper level of Dickinson Hall.
"I remember leaving my office hoping a least a handful of people would show up," Tignor said. "I was shocked when I walked into a packed room and people had already begun small discussions."
In addition to the Sept. 11 forum, the three professors also organized two other forums — one was held last fall, and the most recent one focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The award was entirely unexpected, Tignor said. He said, in his eyes he does not feel he and his colleagues had done much more than send out a simple e-mail inviting people to talk.
"The award was such a wonderful acknowledgement of such a spontaneous event," Tignor said.
"We, as historians, felt that we may have some role to bear in helping individuals come to terms with the events of September 11th," he added. "Many people were confused and didn't know how to respond."
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