Frederick Douglass Medal

The Frederick Douglass Medal is awarded by the University of Rochester and its Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies to acknowledge both scholarship and civic engagement that honor the Douglass' legacy.

2017

Constance Mitchell
Social, civic, political, and industrial activist; first woman and first African-American to serve on the Monroe County Legislature

2016

Frederick Jefferson
University Intercessor and Professor Emeritus at the Warner School; pioneer and champion of diversity and inclusivity at the University

2013

Yolanda Moses
Scholar on the origins of social inequality; former president of the City College of New York

2012

Garth Fagan
Tony Award–winning choreographer

2010

Deborah Gray White
Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University; pioneering scholar in the field of African-American women's history

Fall 2008

David Kearns
Retired CEO of Xerox Corp. and former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President George H.W. Bush
VIDEO: David Kearns

Walter Cooper
Retired research scientist at Eastman Kodak Co.; one of the founding members of the Rochester chapter of the National Urban League and Action for a Better Community; New York State regent emeritus
VIDEO: Walter Cooper

Spring 2008

Lani Guinier
Professor of law at Harvard University

Gerald Torres
Professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin