Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, has announced a field of seven finalists for the prestigious George Washington Prize. The award, established by Washington College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and George Washington’s Mount Vernon, recognizes the best books on the nation’s founding era. The prize comes with a cash award of $50,000. The winner will be announced at a black-tie celebration at Mount Vernon on May 25.
Among the nominees for this year’s George Washington Prize are three women who hold academic appointments at American universities.
Mary Sarah Bilder is a professor of law and the Michael and Helen Lee Distinguished Scholar at the Boston College Law School. Professor Bilder is being honored for her book Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention (Harvard University Press, 2015). Dr. Bilder is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Harvard Law School. She also holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.
Kathleen Duval is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She joined the faculty at the university in 2003 and was promoted to full professor in 2015. Professor Duval is the author of Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution (Random House, 2015). A graduate of Stanford University, Dr. Duval holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of California, Davis.
Janet Polasky is the Presidential Professor of History and Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Polasky has taught at the University of New Hampshire since 1981. She is being honored for her book Revolutions Without Borders: The Call to Liberty in the Atlantic World (Yale University Press, 2015). Professor Polasky is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.