ITHACA, N.Y. -- Robert L. Harris Jr., Cornell University vice provost for diversity and faculty development and associate professor of African-American history in the university's Africana Studies and Research Center, has been awarded the 2003 Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion for distinguished work in the field of African-American life and history. Harris received the honor during the 88th annual meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Milwaukee in September.

The Woodson award is presented annually to a scholar whose career is distinguished through at least a decade of research, writing and activism in the field of African-American life and history. ASALH, founded by Carter G. Woodson in 1915, inaugurated the Woodson Scholars Medallion in 1993.

Woodson, considered by many as the "father of black history," began publishing theJournal of Negro History (now theJournal of African American History ) in 1916, established Negro History Week in 1926 (expanded to Black History Month in 1976) and authored some 18 books.

Previous recipients of the Woodson Medallion have included John Hope Franklin, John Henrik Clarke, Adelaide Cromwell, Darlene Clark Hine and Lerone Bennett Jr.

Harris served as president of ASALH in 1991-93.

Related World Wide Web sites: The following sites provide additional information on this news release. Some might not be part of the Cornell University community, and Cornell has no control over their content or availability.

http://www.asalh.com/blackhistory.htm

-30-