Martha Minow, the three hundredth Anniversary University Professor at Harvard and former dean of Harvard Law School, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Social Sciences and Technology. The award is introduced by the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology on the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and honors excellent students whose work bridges science, expertise, ethics, and society. Minow shares the 2025 prize with Professor Ulrike Felt of the University of Vienna.
“This year’s Friedrich Schiedel Prizes honor two visionary thinkers who remind us that scholarship is not only about knowledge, but about service to humanity,” stated Urs Gasser LL.M. ’03, a dean of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology, who beforehand served as a professor of observe at Harvard Law School. “Ulrike Felt and Martha Minow exemplify intellectual brilliance joined with moral courage and leadership. Their work redefines how we understand the nexus of technology, justice, and human responsibility — and continues to inspire the values of reflection and responsibility that define our school.”
Minow is a globally acknowledged scholar in constitutional regulation and human rights whose analysis focuses on how societies reply to inequality and injustice, notably affecting marginalized communities, and how rising applied sciences will be ruled in ways in which shield democratic values and human dignity. In latest work, together with “Distrust of Artificial Intelligence: Sources & Responses from Computer Science & Law” with Cynthia Dwork (2022), and “Social Media Companies Should Pursue Serious Self-Supervision,” she advances moral frameworks for regulating digital applied sciences and addressing the societal penalties of technological energy.
Her books embody “Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve the Freedom of Speech” (2021); “When Should Law Forgive?” (2019); “In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Constitutional Landmark” (2010); “Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good” (2002); “Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence” (1998); and “Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion, and American Law” (1990).
Recent articles embody “Justice in Divided Societies,” (American Journal of Law and Equality, 2024), and “Walls or Bridges: Law’s Role in Conflicts over Religion and Equal Treatment,” (Brigham Young University Law Review, 2023). She is at the moment writing e-book for University of California Press addressing the preconditions wanted for a sustainable constitutional democracy.
Beyond academia, Minow has performed a big management position in world and nationwide initiatives. She has led the UNHCR program Imagine Co-existence, collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education to advertise digital inclusion for youngsters with disabilities, and served as chair of the MacArthur Foundation Board, championing innovation, inclusion, and human rights worldwide.
Minow stated, “The interdisciplinary approach of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology exemplifies the integration of perspectives and disciplines critical to advancing human welfare in this age of rapid technological innovation, and I am humbled and honored by this meaningful award. It inspires me to work globally to center the dignity and potential of human beings amid this transformative time.”
Minow’s contributions have beforehand been acknowledged with quite a few honors, together with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Lifetime Award, and a number of honorary doctorates.
Established in 2023, the Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Social Sciences and Technology is awarded by TUM to strengthen the social sciences and interdisciplinary analysis, recognizing students whose work integrates technological innovation with moral reflection and societal influence.
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