NEW YORK, NY –
Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University’s prestigious research institute in Washington, D.C., has been selected as the recipient of the 2027 Gennadius Prize, the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens has announced.
The award recognizes Dumbarton Oaks’ extraordinary contributions to Byzantine Studies and the advancement of knowledge of post-antique Greece. The prize will be presented at the American School’s Annual Gala on May 6, 2027, in New York City.
Established by the Board of Overseers of the Gennadius Library in 2016, the Gennadius Prize honors individuals and institutions whose work has advanced knowledge of post-antique Greece. Previous recipients include the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Lloyd Cotsen, Professor Curtis Runnels, Professor Mark Mazower, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Dumbarton Oaks is a Harvard University research institute dedicated to supporting research and learning through its premier programs in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian Studies. Through its fellowships, collections, publications, exhibitions, and academic meetings, it has shaped generations of scholars and advanced the study of the Byzantine world. The Gennadius Prize honors its preeminent contributions to Byzantine Studies and to the advancement of knowledge of post-antique Greece.
According to the announcement, the relationship between Dumbarton Oaks and the Gennadius Library reflects a shared commitment to advancing scholarship on the Greek and Byzantine worlds. Scholars affiliated with both institutions have benefited from their complementary collections, research opportunities, and vibrant intellectual communities, strengthening the study of Greek and Byzantine civilization across generations.
“At the Gennadius Library, we think often about continuity, how ideas, texts, objects, and traditions travel across centuries and find new meaning in each generation”, reflected Dr. Maria Georgopoulou, Director of the Gennadius Library. “Dumbarton Oaks has done extraordinary work in sustaining that kind of inquiry for Byzantine Studies. Its influence lies not only in the resources it preserves, but in the scholars it gathers and the questions it encourages. We are delighted to honor Dumbarton Oaks with the 2027 Gennadius Prize”.
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is the leading American research and teaching institution in Greece dedicated to the advanced study of all aspects of Greek culture from prehistory to the present. Founded in 1881 as the first American overseas research center, the School is a consortium of nearly 200 universities, colleges, and other academic institutions in the United States and Canada, centered in Athens with an administrative base in Princeton, NJ. Today the School is the largest of the 19 foreign research institutes in Greece.
The Gennadius Library is one of Greece’s national treasures. In 2026, it celebrated the centennial of its opening, marking 100 years as one of the country’s most distinguished centers of scholarship and culture.
