A total of eight recipients will be honored in October 8 ceremony hosted by the Hutchins Center
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The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research has named its 2026 cohort of W.E.B. Du Bois Medalists. They include actress Angela Bassett, humanitarian and soccer legend Didier Drogba, and the five-time Grammy-winning singer Mavis Staples.
This year’s honorees, announced Tuesday, also include installation artist and urban planner Theaster Gates; Netflix co-founder and philanthropist Reed Hastings; technology executive and scholar James Manyika; and writer, producer, and filmmaker Lena Waithe, creator of the Showtime hit series “The Chi.” Boston attorney and civic leader Fletcher “Flash” Wiley, J.D./M.P.P. ’74, will be honored posthumously. Wiley, a trailblazing veteran of the U.S. Air Force and co-founder of one of New England’s largest minority-owned law firms, died last year at age 82.
“This year’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medalists represent the highest traditions of excellence, imagination, and public service,” said Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center. “Through their extraordinary achievements in the arts, science, business, sports, and philanthropy, they have enlarged our understanding of what is possible and enriched the lives of people around the world.”
The Du Bois Medal, first awarded in 2000, is Harvard’s highest honor in African and African American studies. The prize is named for scholar, author, and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, who became the first Black person to earn a Harvard Ph.D. in 1895. His enduring contributions include authoring the 1903 title “The Souls of Black Folk” and co-founding the N.A.A.C.P.
“Each of this year’s honorees has taken their extraordinary talent and turned it toward something larger than themselves — culture, justice, community, and opportunity for others,” said Glenn Hutchins, chairman of the Hutchins Center Advisory Board. “That is exactly the spirit W.E.B. Du Bois asked of us, and it is why this class of medalists belongs among the finest we have honored.”
Past recipients of the Du Bois Medal include lawmaker and civil rights icon John Lewis, media powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, and NBA Hall of Famer turned bestselling author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Awards are presented during the annual Hutchins Center Honors ceremony. This year’s event will take place October 8 at 5 p.m. in Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. Free tickets, with a limit of two per person, will be available via the Harvard Box Office at noon on Tuesday, September 29.
Harvard geoscientists reported that organic matter harvested from certain meteorites bears chemical traces of “primitive oxygen reservoirs” that have changed little since the birth of our solar system. The findings help trace the origins of organic matter that meteorites may have delivered to a young Earth, supplying the planet with ingredients essential for life.
Singer Mavis Staples, actress Angela Bassett, and soccer star Didier Drogba were among the honorees presented with W.E.B. Du Bois Medals Thursday at Sanders Theatre. The annual ceremony, hosted by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, recognizes outstanding contributions to Black history and culture.
“We will keep working at it until we get it right,” the FAS dean said.