Alum to receive prestigious Harvard Medal

Preston Noah Williams ‘54 S.T.M., who has dedicated his career to promoting belonging for all students and scholars in the academy, is one of three education leaders selected to receive the Harvard Medal for 2021.

Now the Houghton Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School, Williams is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, with a bachelor’s of divinity degree from Johnson C. Smith University and master’s of sacred theology from YDS. He taught at three historically Black colleges and served as associate chaplain at Penn State University.

In 2006, YDS honored Williams with the alumni award for Distinction in Theological Education. in 2006.