The International Balzan Foundation named history professor Anthony Grafton winner of the Balzan Prize on Tuesday.
The foundation seeks to acknowledge outstanding achievement in science, culture and humanitarian causes by annually awarding four prizes, each carrying a grant of 1,000,000 Swiss francs — equivalent to $667,000.
Because of the secret nature of the selection process, Grafton did not know of his nomination. Out of town at the time of the announcement, he discovered he had won when he received congratulatory e-mails from friends in Europe.
"I was completely stunned," Grafton said. "I had no idea that I was even being considered."
Grafton is especially pleased with the prize's stipulation that half the award money be set aside for research work done by young scientists or academics.
"It's a wonderful thing," he said. "It's especially difficult for [young scholars] to keep working in the early years after their Ph.D.'s, and that is usually when careers are made or broken. If I can do something to help out some outstanding young scholars, then that is wonderful."
Grafton credits University of Chicago history professor Hanna Holbrook Gray with launching his own career in history.
"I was going to be a classics major, but then I got lost one day and took a course in Renaissance history," Grafton said. "She converted me."
Since graduating from the University of Chicago, Grafton has established himself as one of today's leading historians. His research interests center on European intellectual history, with a particular emphasis on the history of the classical tradition, science and scholarship and books.
The International Balzan Foundation was founded in 1956 by Angela Lina Balzan in memory of her father, prominent Italian journalist Eugenio Balzan.
Other recipients of the 2002 Balzac Prize include Swiss biologist Walter Gehring, French geologist Xavier le Pichon and French sociologist Dominique Schnapper, who is the second woman and the first female scholar to receive the prize.
Past recipients include former Princeton history professor Charles Gillispie and Mother Teresa.
Read More
Princeton endowment up 11% in rebound in hot market year, but low among peers
Coco GongThe return marks a rebound in a hot year for markets compared to last year’s historically low return of 3.9 percent and the losses of 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent in FY 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The return marks a rebound in a hot year for markets compared to last year’s historically low return of 3.9 percent and the losses of 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent in FY 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Professor Michael Skinnider awarded 2025 Packard Fellowship for research on metabolites
Julie KimMichael Skinnider, an associate professor at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, has been awarded a 2025 Packard Fellowship for his research on metabolites, small molecules inside the human body that play key roles in metabolism and disease.
Michael Skinnider, an associate professor at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, has been awarded a 2025 Packard Fellowship for his research on metabolites, small molecules inside the human body that play key roles in metabolism and disease.
Alumni celebrate Princeton’s 279th birthday at Orange and Black Day 2025
Aitana CamponovoOn Wednesday, Oct. 22, alumni returned to celebrate Princeton's 279th birthday on the fifth annual Orange and Black Day.
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, alumni returned to celebrate Princeton's 279th birthday on the fifth annual Orange and Black Day.