The Richard A. Macksey Award is given annually to one graduating student whose course of study best embodies the rich and varied challenges of a liberal education at Johns Hopkins University.
Over his more than 50 years as a professor of comparative literature in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Professor Macksey set the standard for the principles of scholarship and ethics of the highest order. Each year, the Johns Hopkins University chapter of Phi Beta Kappa seeks to discover and honor, in Professor Macksey’s name, a graduating student who has most ardently and meaningfully pursued education at Johns Hopkins in the sense John Dewey had in mind when he deemed education as “not a preparation for life, but life itself.”
Candidates for the Macksey Award must be Phi Beta Kappa inductees. In addition, the award committee principally considers three further aspects:
- a transcript that demonstrates sustained, deep work and engagement in at least two distinct areas of the Arts and Sciences curriculum
- evidence of an activity of significance that extends beyond the curriculum, carried out within the University or beyond, that provides an instance of education “as life itself;”
- a letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor, academic advisor, or professor
New electees to Phi Beta Kappa are invited to self-nominate for the Macksey Award; detailed instructions are sent to these students each spring.
The winner of the Macksey Award is announced and honored at the Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony during commencement week.
Recipients of the Richard A. Macksey Award
- 2025 | Rahul Jakati
- 2024 | Zeiqing Li
- 2023 | Joyce Ker
- 2022 | Romila Santra
- 2021 | Ellie Kathleen Taylor
- 2020 | Lauren Bules
- 2019 | Rachel Lynn Underweiser
- 2018 | David Joshua Hamburger
- 2017 | Allison Haines Comotto
- 2016 | Kathryn Evalyn Clark
- 2015 | Gabriel Demeter Denis
- 2014 | Bethany Lynne Flaherty
- 2013 | Ayresleigh Brandina Rowland
- 2012 | Timothy Smith McCarty
- 2011 | Anna Helena Zander Denis
- 2010 | Emily Daly
- 2009 | Brett Stuart Frankel
- 2008 | Patrick Kennedy