The Alexander Meiklejohn Award for Academic Freedom is given to an American college or university administrator or trustee, or to a board of trustees as a group, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to academic freedom, preferably during the previous two years. Nominations are submitted in the form of supporting letters and biographical material. A nomination from an AAUP chapter or faculty senate or union ordinarily begins the process, but occasionally the national AAUP has invited a local faculty body to nominate an individual. Letters of endorsement from other groups and individuals are welcome. The award is made only when the contribution to academic freedom is judged to be truly outstanding.
Please contact Anita Levy for more information.
Recipients of the Alexander Meiklejohn Award
| 1958 | President Eldon L. Johnson and the Board of Trustees of the University of New Hampshire |
| 1959 | Chancellor Ethan A. H. Shepley of Washington University (St. Louis) |
| 1960 | Dean Guerdon David Nichols of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of the University of Arkansas |
| 1961 | Dr. Robert W. Mance, a trustee of Allen University |
| 1962 | President Arthur S. Flemming of the University of Oregon |
| 1963 | Mr. Henry L. Bowden, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Emory University |
| 1964 | President Clark Kerr and the Board of Regents of the University of California |
| 1965 | President Willis M. Tate of Southern Methodist University |
| 1966 | President Mason W. Gross and the Board of Governors of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |
| 1968 | President J.W. Maucker of the University of Northern Iowa |
| 1969 | President George W. Starcher of the University of North Dakota |
| 1970 | Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president or the University of Notre Dame |
| 1973 | President Thomas E. O’Connell of Berkshire Community College |
| 1975 | The Board of Trustees of the University of Maine |
| 1978 | The Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University |
| 1984 | Vice President for Academic Affairs Dale Nitzschke and Dean of the Graduate College James F. Adams of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| 1988 | President W. Randall Lolley of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| 1995 | President Sean Fanelli of Nassau Community College (New York) |
| 1998 | President Roger W. Bowen of the State University of New York at New Paltz |
| 2000 | Chancellor William Danforth of Washington University in St. Louis |
| 2003 | President Molly Corbett Broad of the University of North Carolina |
| 2010 | President Patricia Ann McGuire, Trinity Washington University |