On October 14, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded a Wilbur Cross Medal—the school’s highest honor—to historian and past AHA president Thomas C. Holt. Three other Yale alumni—inventor Eric R. Fossum, reproductive rights expert Kirsten Luker, and economist Edmund Phelps—also received the prize.

To mark the occasion, Holt delivered a public lecture entitled “Writing the History of the Civil Rights Movement: A Personal Reflection.”

Holt earned his PhD in American studies in 1973 and is currently the James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of American and African American History at the University of Chicago. He specializes in US southern political history and race relations. Holt served as president of the AHA from 1994–95, and his work has been recognized by organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The American Historical Association commends Professor Holt for his achievement.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.