Since 1960, the American Whig-Cliosophic Society at Princeton University has bestowed its highest honor, the James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service (JMA), to an individual who has taken up the arduous but righteous cause of dedicating their life to the betterment of society. From diplomats to activists, and from Presidents of the United States to foreign royalty, this award has honored the men and women courageous enough to confront some of society’s biggest challenges. With a passion for progress and a penchant for problem-solving, JMA recipients have improved the communities in which they live.
This year, we are proud to announce Representative Terri Sewell ’86 as the 2020 James Madison Award Recipient. A careful review of Rep. Sewell’s record reveals why she is so deserving of this award. Representing Selma, Alabama, the crown jewel of Alabama’s Black Belt, Rep. Sewell was elected to Congress in 2011 as an advocate for economic progress and upward mobility. She has tackled issues of systemic poverty and unemployment in her district while also being a fierce advocate for voting rights nationwide.
Throughout her career, Representative Sewell has continued to break down racial and gender barriers. After graduating from Princeton University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, she worked diligently as a securities lawyer and public finance lawyer for Maynard, Cooper & Gale, where she was the first Black woman to make partner. Years later, she would also become the first African American woman to be elected to Congress from Alabama. Now, on the 60th anniversary of the first James Madison Award, in what has already been a historic year for the Society, we are also humbled to recognize Rep. Sewell as the first African American Woman James Madison Award recipient.
If there’s someone you’d like to recommend for the James Madison Award, please fill out the following form: 2023 James Madison Award
Past Recipients:
- 1960 Dean Acheson
- 1961 Robert Meyner
- 1962 Stuart Symington
- 1963 Maxwell Taylor
- 1964 Adlai Stevenson
- 1965 Harlan Cleveland
- 1966 Claiborne Pell,
- Allen W. Dulles
- 1967 John Harlan
- 1968 Roy Wilkins
- 1969 Earl Warren
- 1970 Averell Harriman
- 1971 Robert F. Goheen
- 1972 Walter Cronkite
- 1973 J. W. Fulbright
- 1974 Golda Meir
- 1975 William O. Douglas
- 1976 Mike Mansfield
- 1978 Leon Jaworski
- 1979 Roger Baldwin
- 1980 Millard C. Farmer
- 1981 Potter Stewart
- 1982 Jacob K. Javits
- 1984 Bob Hope
- 1985 George Kennan
- 1986 Paul Volcker
- 1987 Warren Burger
- 1988 Barry Goldwater
- 1989 C. Leslie Rice, Jr.
- 1990 Ralph Nader
- 1991 Jesse Jackson
- 1994 Sarah Brady
- 1995 Robert MacNeil
- 1997 Patricia Schroeder
- 2000 Bill Clinton
- 2002 Kofi Annan
- 2003 William Frist
- 2003 Sandra Day O’Connor
- 2004 George Shultz
- 2006 Stephen Breyer
- 2008 Antonin Scalia
- 2009 Jeffrey Sachs
- 2010 Prince Hans-Adam II
- 2013 Chen Guangcheng
- 2014 Ben Bernanke
- 2015 Jimmy Carter
- 2016 Ted Cruz
- 2020 Terri Sewell