Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Citizen Leadership
On Founder’s Day, UVA and Monticello join together to present the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals to recognize achievements of those who embrace endeavors in which Jefferson excelled and held in high regard. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals in Architecture, Citizen Leadership, Global Innovation, and Law are the highest external honors bestowed by the University, which grants no honorary degrees. UVA Batten is responsible for selecting the recipient of the Citizen Leadership Medal each year.
Learn more about Founder's DayLearn more about the Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the 2026 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Citizen Leadership. A Harvard University professor and researcher, Gates is best known for the genealogy detective television series “Finding Your Roots,” in which he and his research team explore the ancestry of celebrities and influencers from different backgrounds. He’s also one of the country’s foremost experts on African American literature and literary traditions, an award-winning producer of films and television series and the author of numerous books.
Read more about the 2026 Medalists
Citizen Leadership Medalists
| Year | Medalist |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Henry Louis Gates, Jr., literary scholar, filmmaker, and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard |
| 2025 | Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative |
| 2024 | Julieanna L. Richardson, Founder and president of The HistoryMakers, a national non-profit educational institution |
| 2023 | Jason Rezaian, Award-winning writer and journalist for The Washington Post |
| 2022 | Sherrie Rollins Westin, President of Sesame Workshop |
| 2020 | Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation |
| 2019 | Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer and National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence |
| 2018 | Morgan Carrington “Cary” Fowler Jr., Creator of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – the world’s largest collection of crop diversity |
| 2017 | Alice Waters, chef, author, food activist and founder of the Edible Schoolyard Project |
| 2016 | Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund |
| 2015 | John Lewis, civil rights leader, U.S. Congressman known as the “conscience of the Congress” |
| 2014 | James H. Webb, Jr. |
| 2013 | Wendy Kopp |
| 2012 | Jessica Tuchman Matthews |
| 2011 | Peter G. Peterson |
| 2010 | Joseph Neubauer |
| 2009 | Warren M. Christopher |
| 2008 | John W. Warner |
| 2007 | Alan Greenspan |