Keith Wailoo, the Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey will share the 2021 Dan David Prize, an award endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
The Dan David Foundation annually awards $3 million to individuals and organizations that expand the knowledge of the past, enrich society in the present, and improve the world’s future. The fields change annually to reflect society’s current quandaries. This year’s areas of focus include the history of health and medicine (past), public health (present), and molecular medicine (future).
Professor Wailoo will share a $1 million prize with two co-winners in the history of health and medicine category.
“I am deeply honored to be a Dan David Prize laureate for my historical scholarship on health and medicine, particularly for developing new insights about the past that enrich current approaches to improving health and society,” Professor Wailoo said.
Dr. Wailoo has authored an influential body of historical scholarship focused on race, science, and health equity; on the social implications of medical innovation; and on the politics of disease. His books include Dying in the City of the Blues: Sickle Cell Anemia and the Politics of Race and Health (University of North Carolina Press, 2001), How Cancer Crossed the Color Line (Oxford University Press, 2010), and Pain: A Political History (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014). Professor Wailoo also serves as president of the American Association for the History of Medicine.
Dr. Wailoo is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in chemical engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
