IAS Bamberger Medal Ceremony
honoring Shelby White
Honorary Event Chairs
Charles Simonyi, Microsoft Corporation & IAS Board Chair
Jim Simons, Simons Foundation & IAS Trustee Emeritus
Musical Tribute - Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway
Special Presentation - David Nirenberg, Director and Leon Levy Professor
On May 6, 2022 the IAS Bamberger Medal was presented to Shelby White, IAS Trustee Emerita and Founder of the Leon Levy Foundation, at a celebration on the Institute’s campus in Princeton. Shelby has championed the Institute throughout the four decades since her late husband Leon Levy’s appointment to the Board of Trustees in 1988. She herself served on the IAS Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2019.
A significant philanthropist of our time, Shelby has made investments of great depth and breadth in the Institute. Her generosity has fortified IAS in innumerable ways, including the establishment of the Leon Levy Professorship, her dedication to the cohesive beauty of the Institute’s campus landscape, and providing resources to support scholarly initiatives. Shelby also created the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center to document IAS history and the many significant people who have shaped it. She truly embodies the curiosity and dedication fundamental to the Institute mission.
The IAS Bamberger Medal, the Institute’s highest honor, recognizes Shelby's visionary support of the Institute’s pioneering research. The medal is named in honor of Caroline Bamberger Fuld and Louis Bamberger, the sister-and-brother philanthropists who provided the founding $5 million gift to establish IAS as envisioned by the education reformer Abraham Flexner, the Institute’s founding Director.
Over $1.5 million was raised through the event which will benefit the annual operations of IAS.