CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — On April 14, the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello will present their highest honors, the 2026 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals, to a trio of national and international luminaries in the areas of architecture, citizen leadership and law. This year’s awardees:
- Architecture: Architect Jeanne Gang is the founding partner of international architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang. Known for a distinctive design approach that expands beyond architecture’s conventional boundaries, she creates striking places that strengthen connections between people, their communities and nature. Her diverse portfolio across the Americas and Europe includes the Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History, a new United States embassy in Brazil and an expansion of the Clinton Presidential Center. A MacArthur Fellow and the Kajima Professor in Practice of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Jeanne has been named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world.
- Citizen Leadership: Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. An Emmy, Du Pont, and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar and institution builder, Gates has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films about Black history, including, most recently, “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History (PBS, 2026)”. Gates’ groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, “Finding Your Roots,” which received a Primetime Emmy nomination, is in its 12th season on PBS. His latest book, “The Black Box: Writing the Race” (Penguin Random House, 2024), was named one of The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the Year.
- Law: John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Buffalo, New York, on Jan. 27, 1955. He married Jane Sullivan in 1996, and they have two children, Josephine and Jack. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1976 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979. He served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979-80, and as a law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 term. He served as a special assistant to the attorney general of the United States from 1981-82, associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, White House Counsel’s Office from 1982-86, and as principal deputy solicitor general from 1989-93. From 1986-89 and 1993-2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He served as a judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2003-05. Nominated as chief justice of the United States by President George W. Bush, he assumed that office on Sept. 29, 2005.
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals recognize the exemplary contributions of recipients to the endeavors in which Jefferson – the author of the Declaration of Independence, the third U.S. president and the founder of the University of Virginia – excelled and held in high regard.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to honor this year’s Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal recipients, who are each distinguished leaders in their chosen fields, and who embody the spirit of public service that Jefferson held in such high regard,” said University of Virginia President Scott C. Beardsley. “I congratulate this year’s medalists on all they have achieved and look forward to celebrating their extraordinary contributions.”
The awards will be presented on April 14, just after Thomas Jefferson’s April 13 birthday – known locally as Founders Day – by the president of the University and the president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the independent, nonprofit organization that owns and operates Jefferson’s home, Monticello. This year’s celebrations mark the 283rd anniversary of Jefferson’s birth. The medals will be presented during a luncheon in the Rotunda Dome Room at UVA. Medalists will be honored at a formal dinner at Monticello on April 13.
“In 2026, as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are called not only to revisit Jefferson’s words, but to reflect on our shared responsibility to carry their promise forward,” said Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. “This year’s medalists demonstrate how creativity, scholarship and principled leadership strengthen American institutions and deepen our constitutional democracy. It is a privilege to celebrate their achievements at this historic moment in our nation’s story.”
Gates will speak on Tuesday, April 14, at 11 a.m. in Garrett Hall. Gang will speak
Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Newcomb Theater.
Monticello will kick off Founders Day Weekend with “Character, Service, and the American Experiment,” a special conversation between 26th U.S. Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis (ret.) and philanthropist, author and civic leader David M. Rubenstein on Saturday, April 11, on Monticello’s West Lawn. Monticello will commemorate Jefferson’s birth on April 12 with an annual wreath-laying ceremony. The United States Army will place the presidential wreath at Jefferson’s grave, accompanied by performances from the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. A Community Partner Tent on the West Lawn will showcase important work being done in our community.
The complete schedule of Founders Day events and details about how to attend the talks in person or view their livestreams can be found on the Founders Day Page of UVA’s Major Events website. Learn more about Monticello’s Founders Day Weekend activities at Monticello.org/FoundersDay.
About Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. As a civic institution, Monticello seeks to increase knowledge and share the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence through programming and scholarship built upon a foundation of rigorous research.
Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site, and a Site of Conscience. As a private, nonprofit organization, Monticello receives no ongoing local, state, or federal funding. Visitors and the generosity of donors make Monticello’s twofold mission of preservation and education possible. For information, visit monticello.org.
About the University of Virginia
Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University of Virginia sustains the ideal of developing, through education, leaders who are well-prepared to help shape the future of the nation and the world. The University is public, while nourished by the strong support of its alumni. It is also selective; the students who come here have been chosen because they show the exceptional promise Jefferson envisioned.