Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History Emerita, was honored May 28 by the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAA) with its highest alumni award.

The Centennial Medal recognizes alumni of GSAA who have made fundamental and lasting contributions to knowledge, their disciplines, their colleagues and society. Norton was one of four 2025 honorees.

“Mary Beth Norton revolutionized the study of the American Revolution and the centuries that preceded and followed it by establishing the field of colonial women’s history,” said Jill Kastner, a member of the GSAA Council, in announcing Norton’s award. “At the same time, Norton revolutionized the academic world around her as the first woman on the history faculty at Cornell University.”

Read the full story on The College of Arts & Sciences website.