This year, we were delighted to see National Academy of Science President Peter Wood included in David Brooks’ “2015 Sidney Awards,” part two of his annual list of long-form essays published during 2015. Many of his selections focused on people who can “see reality clearly when everyone else is lost in fog”. Michael Lewis’ May 4, 2015 Weekly Standard cover story focused on this exact theme while his essay about Meredith Whitney and Steve Eisman who understood that the U.S. financial system had turned into a doomsday machine earned its inaugural Sidney of 2024!
This prize, established by Professor Sidney Cox’s friends and students in 1927, is given annually to an outstanding paper written during the previous calendar year by one of Professor Cox’s graduating class members on any topic related to English literary history. A committee administered by Robert Frost ’96 and A. B. Guthrie are honorary chairmen while Budd Schulberg ’36 serves as active chairman.
Established to honor Sir Philip Sidney Ardern, Lecturer and Associate Professor of English at Auckland University College from 1912-1947, this prize primarily seeks to promote Old and Middle English literature; though not limited solely to such subjects. Each year it consists of both a cash award and plaque.
The Sydney H. Schanberg Prize recognizes exceptional long-form journalism that exposes social and economic injustice, such as local, state or federal government corruption; armed conflicts; military injustice or war crimes such as genocide or sedition. It was named after former New York Times and Newsday columnist Sydney Schanberg and sponsored by his widow Jane Freiman Schanberg.
This award, offered annually in collaboration with Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Center for Southern Studies, honors writers who contribute to and extend the literary traditions of American South. It carries with it a prize pool of up to $3,000. Winner receives both monetary award and plaque; runners-up each receive $1,500 as runners-up awards. Applicants must be currently enrolled in an M.A. program in Department of History with nomination by their graduate adviser before November 15 deadline for applications. Read more about it and past winners here!