The Library of Congress Awards the Kluge Prize to Harvard University’s Danielle S. Allen

Danielle S. Allen, a University professor and professor of government who also serves as director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, has been awarded the John W. Kluge Prize from the Library of Congress. The prize, which includes a $500,000 award, recognizes scholarly achievement in disciplines not covered by the Nobel Prizes. The Kluge Prize honors “individuals whose outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences has shaped public affairs and civil society.”

Dr. Allen joined the faculty at Harvard in 2015. She is a professor of government and a professor of education. Before joining the faculty at Harvard, Dr. Allen was the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Earlier, she served on the faculty at the University of Chicago for more than a decade.

Dr. Allen is the author of several books including The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens (Princeton University Press, 2000) and Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (Liveright, 2014).

Professor Allen is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University where she majored in the classics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in the classics from the University of Cambridge in England. In addition, she has a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.