Bryan Stevenson to Receive Wallenberg Medal

The 2016-2017 Wallenberg Medal will be awarded to civil rights lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rackham Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus. After the medal presentation, Stevenson will give the 25th Wallenberg Lecture. Stevenson is committed to serving the legal needs of…

2015, Masha Gessen

11/3/15 Wallenberg Lecture at Rackham with Masha Gessen.

On Tuesday President Mark Schlissel awarded the Wallenberg Medal to Masha Gessen, Russian American author, journalist and activist. The University’s most distinguished award, the medal commemorates Raoul Wallenberg, Michigan Class of 1935, whose actions in Budapest, Hungary during World War II saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews. In presenting the Medal, President…

Exposing the Real Russia under Putin: “Don’t walk the streets. Don’t eat the food. Don’t talk.”

The 2015 Wallenberg Medalist, Masha Gessen, will give the Wallenberg Lecture on November 3 at 7:30 pm in the Rackham Auditorium. Gessen is a highly acclaimed journalist, author, and vocal critic of Vladimir Putin and his government’s corruption, repression of human rights, and intervention in former nations of the Eastern Soviet Bloc, Ukraine, and Syria.…

Masha Gessen to Receive Wallenberg Medal

The 2015 Wallenberg Medal will be awarded to Russian and American journalist, author, and activist Masha Gessen on Tuesday, November 3, at 7:30 p.m., in Rackham Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus. After the medal presentation, Gessen will give the 24th Wallenberg Lecture. Gessen is a prolific writer about political and cultural affairs in…

Seventy Years Ago

On January 17, 1945, Raoul Wallenberg was arrested by forces of the Soviet Union in Debrecen, Hungary. He disappeared and was never seen again. But his conviction endures that one person can make a difference.

Denis Mukwege Wins the 2014 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

As the director of the Panzi Hospital, Dr. Mukwege has been a steadying presence amid the turmoil. In a white surgeon’s coat and Crocs, he focuses on healing the physical damage and the psychological trauma that follows sexual assault, helping support job-creation programs and leadership training for rape victims. He is known for his understated charisma and his seemingly bottomless reservoir of empathy.

2002 Wallenberg Medal recipient, Kailash Satyarthi, receives 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

Kailash Satyarthi and President Coleman

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced that Kailash Satyarthi, 2002 recipient of the Wallenberg Medal, is co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Malala Yousafzay. They have received the Peace Prize in recognition of “their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”…

Agnes Heller Inspires a Full House as She Receives the Wallenberg Medal

Agnes Heller in a vibrant discussion with students and faculty of the Philosophy Department.

The video of the lecture is now available. “I lived in a time when we needed heroes,” Agnes Heller, 2014 Wallenberg Medalist, says when discussing being a good citizen and the ways in which that has played out in her life. Dr. Heller, a world-renowned philosopher and Holocaust survivor has spent decades as a vocal…