Amy Gutmann Honored by Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
The museum honored Gutmann with the Only in America® Award, “given to Jewish Americans who have made enormous contributions to our world.”
Amy Gutmann (Photo: Penn Today)
At a ceremony on November 5, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History honored Amy Gutmann, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication, with the Only in America® Award, “given to Jewish Americans who have made enormous contributions to our world.”
Gutmann is Penn’s longest-serving president; she held the role from 2004 through 2022, after which she became U.S. Ambassador to Germany under the Biden Administration. She is a scholar of democracy, and has written more than a dozen books on subjects from identity and disagreement to the spirit of compromise.
“Throughout her career, she has been forceful in standing up and speaking out against antisemitism, the importance of Holocaust remembrance, and promoting tolerance and respect,” the museum wrote in announcing the award.
Gutmann’s father escaped Nazi Germany in 1934. “His journey, like so many others, is a testament to the strength, perseverance, and enduring contributions of Jewish Americans to our nation’s fabric, and it has deeply influenced my entire career,” Gutmann noted in the announcement. “To share and elevate these stories is not only a privilege—it is a responsibility. By remembering and honoring our past, we light the way forward. We do so at a time when understanding Jewish history and experience is more essential than ever.”
The award takes its name from the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame at the Philadelphia-based museum, which celebrates iconic Jewish Americans such as Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Louis Brandeis, Albert Einstein, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gutmann joins a prestigious list of prior winners, including Ginsburg, former Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, and others.
