ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – Two youth advocacy groups that are focused on ending gun violence in their communities will be awarded the 2018 Wallenberg Medal from the University of Michigan. The winners of this year’s medal will be The B.R.A.V.E. (Bold Resistance Against Violence Everywhere) Youth Leaders of the Faith Community of St. Sabina from…
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2015, 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…
Agnes Heller Inspires a Full House as She Receives the Wallenberg Medal
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…
2014, Agnes Heller
On September 30, the 2014 Wallenberg Medal is being awarded to Agnes Heller, a distinguished philosopher and Holocaust survivor who seeks to understand the nature of ethics and morality in the modern world, and the social and political systems and institutions within which evil can flourish. Like Wallenberg, Professor Heller has demonstrated that courage is…
2012, Maria Gunnoe
Maria Gunnoe is a fearless advocate for environmental and social justice. Despite threats and intimidation Ms. Gunnoe works to educate and build citizen advocacy, and to rally communities that face the destruction of their natural environment in her home of Boone County, West Virginia.
2011, Aung San Suu Kyi
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has committed her life to the non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma. Since 1988, she has been the leader of the democratic opposition and a voice of conciliation and unity among the regions and peoples of Burma.
2010, Denis Mukwege
Dr. Denis Mukwege is director of Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congo who has treated thousands of women who have suffered extreme physical and emotional trauma from sexual violence that is used as a weapon in the wars of the region.
2009, Lydia Cacho
Lydia Cacho is a journalist, author, feminist and human rights activist. She has spoken out against the abuse of women in Mexico, using the unsolved murders in Ciudad Juárez as a call to action against the failure to bring justice to perpetrators of violence against women. Cacho founded Ciam Cancún, a shelter for battered women…
2008, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
The first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Desmond Tutu rose to international fame during the 1980s as a deeply committed advocate of nonviolent resistance to apartheid. In 1995, Nelson Mandela asked Tutu to investigate atrocities committed on all sides during the apartheid years, appointing him chair of South Africa’s Truth and…
2008, Sompop Jantraka
Sompop Jantraka established an organization in Thailand to rescue girls and young women from sexual trafficking in Thailand and the neighboring region of southeast Asia. His work has offered shelter, education and a future for thousands of children and disrupted networks that exploit the poor and vulnerable.