Martha Minow

2016 Recipient

Martha MinowPhoto courtesy of Harvard Public Affairs & Communications

Martha Minow is dean of Harvard Law School and one of the world's leading figures in bringing legal ideas and scholarship to bear on issues of identity, race and equality, including innovative approaches to reconciliation among divided peoples.

Minow’s numerous scholarly works and books include "Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence," a groundbreaking book offering pathways of hope for divided societies, and her 2010 volume "In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Constitutional Landmark."

She worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to establish Imagine Co-existence, a program that promotes peace in post-conflict societies. She has also served on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo, and partnered with the Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology to increase curriculum access for students with disabilities.

Since 2009, Minow has served as a presidential appointee on the board of the Legal Services Corporation, a government-sponsored organization that provides civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. She also serves on the boards of directors for the MacArthur Foundation, the Covenant Foundation and other nonprofit organizations, and is the former chair of the Scholar’s Board of Facing History and Ourselves.

Martha Minow was in residence Feb. 25-26, 2016. The Gittler award presentation and lecture was held Feb. 25, 2016.

Videos

Martha Minow

"Bystanders, Upstanders and Justice," February 25, 2016

Martha Minow and Lisa Fishbayn Joffe

Martha Minow in conversation with Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, Associate Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, February 26, 2016

“People will not be able to have access to an essential resource to live because of the profit-making activities of private companies that are not regulated. My hope is not to advocate for any particular rule or solution, but instead to ask: Does anyone care?”

Martha Minow

From her lecture, "Bystanders, Upstanders and Justice"