History of the prize
President's Medals are awarded for academic-related activity rather than academic achievement alone. Service may be to one or more disciplines, but preference may be given to breadth of service. The medals were first awarded in 2010.
Eligibility
There is no defined limit on what may qualify as outstanding service. Examples could include accurate and insightful journalism contributing to public understanding; meritorious use of research-based advice within the policymaking process; public leadership concerning the value and interests of research in humanities and social science; creative forms of support for humanities and social science within an institutional context; providing or securing resource to invest in research in these disciplines. Recipients of the medal may be anyone (likely to be UK-based, but overseas candidates are not excluded) who has done or achieved something suitably meritorious, either recently or over a longer period, which the Academy sees fit to recognise and reward. Recipients cannot be Fellows of the British Academy but could be individuals (academics, members of the media or business worlds, or policymakers) or organisations (universities, corporations, charities).
How to nominate
Nominations for the British Academy President's Medal are currently closed. Nominations will open again in December 2021.
2020 winner
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author, novelist, poet and cultural and environmental activist.
Twice a winner of the Booker Prize, she is world-renowned writer of fiction, poetry, critical essays and graphic novels, whose work has been published in more than 45 countries. Throughout her 50-year career she has become known for her exploration of issues such as gender and identity, faith, politics and ecology, with notable works including The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and its much anticipated sequel The Testaments (2019), The Blind Assassin (2000), Hag-Seed (2016), and Dearly (2020), her first poetry collection in over a decade. Her work has been adapted for stage and screen bringing her novels to the attention of a new generation of readers. In addition to her prolific career as a writer, she is also celebrated for her environmental activism.
The medal has been awarded in recognition of her outstanding contributions to literature.
“It is a great honour to accept the British Academy President’s Medal. The Academy’s role in the promotion, development and funding of scholarship in the literary and social sciences is much needed when facts and truth in public policy are under assault.”
– Margaret Atwood, 2020
Previous winners
2019 Ben Goldacre, clinician, academic and best-selling author
2018 Zeinab Badawi, Journalist and President of the Royal African Society
2018 John Hemming, Author and explorer
2018 Andreas Gestrich
2018 William Dalrymple, Author and Co-Founder of ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival
2018 Dame Frances Cairncross, Chair of the Court, Herriot Watt University
2017 Claudia Hammond, BBC Radio 4
2017 Katie Mitchell
2017 Jimmy Wales, Wikimedia Foundation
2017 Professor James Stevens Curl, University of Ulster
2017 Professor Helga Nowotny, ETH Zurich
2016 Dr Roger Bland, University of Leicester
2016 Dr Leofranc Holford-Strevens, classical scholar and polymath
2016 Dame Hilary Mantel, author
2016 Professor Sir Stanley Wells CBE, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
2015 Dr Peter V Addyman, formerly York Archaeological Trust and Jorvik Viking Centre
2015 Darren Henley, Arts Council England
2015 Dr Elizabeth Livingstone, theologian
2015 Professor Michael Wood, University of Manchester
2014 Peter Brook, Centre International de Créations Théâtrales
2014 Sir Paul Collier, University of Oxford
2014 Dame Jane Goodall, Jane Goodall Institute
2014 Clive James, author, broadcaster and poet
2013 Ms Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty
2013 Baroness Jean Coussins, House of Lords
2013 Sir Peter Stothard, Editor of the Times Literary Supplement
2013 Lord Williams of Oystermouth FBA, Magdalene College, Cambridge
2012 Professor Warwick Gould, Institute of English Studies, University of London
2012 The Right Reverend Professor Lord Harries of Pentregarth
2012 Professor Lisa Jardine, University College London
2012 Professor Sir John Vickers FBA, University of Oxford
2011 Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director of the Barbican Centre
2011 Dr Gillian Tett, Assistant Editor, Financial Times
2011 Ms Sharon Witherspoon, Deputy Director of the Nuffield Foundation
2010 Dr Sarah Tyacke, Distinguished Research Fellow, School of Advanced Study, University of London
2010 Professor Michael Worton, Vice Provost (Academic and International) and Fielden Professor of French Language and Literature, University College London
2010 Rt Hon Peter Riddell, Institute for Government