Cathy N. Davidson Awarded 2025 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education
Cathy N. Davidson, Visitor in the School of Social Science, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. Awarded annually by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, the McGraw Prize honors changemakers in education across three categories: Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Pre-K–12 Education.
Davidson, who was recognized for her exceptional impact on higher education, is the co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory) and a renowned educational scholar. At the City University of New York Graduate Center, Davidson has driven initiatives that empower peer instruction, foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, and center students as agents of change. In her acceptance speech, Davidson shared hopes for the future of the field: “Education takes a village. It takes community. It takes heart and strength and love. Collaboration by difference. Turning mirrors into windows for all. We have a very, very long and hard fight ahead if we are going to save higher education at this perilous moment.”
During her time at the Institute, Davidson is working on a book about generative AI. In collaboration with IAS historians, sociologists, economists, and computer scientists, she plans to use the history of other emerging technologies to attend to AI’s contemporary political and commercial implications.
“A leading voice in digital literacy, learning science, and interdisciplinary innovation, she is known for translating research into action—and for helping institutions evolve to meet the needs of all students,” Davidson’s prize citation describes. “Her work reflects ideals the McGraw Prize was created to honor: bold thinking, equity-driven practice, and a lifelong commitment to transforming education for the public good.” It is fitting, then, that Davidson has found a home during the 2025–26 academic year at IAS: these ideals echo the founding principles of the Institute, which has served as a model for protecting independent inquiry and underscoring the importance of academic freedom worldwide since its establishment in 1930.
Read more about the 2025 McGraw Prize in Education on the McGraw Prize website.
