The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal http://www.vanderbilt.edu/commencement/archives/nichols-chancellors-medal http://www.vanderbilt.edu/commencement/archives/past-speakers is an annual medal that is awarded by Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

. The Medal carries with it a cash prize of $100,000. The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal is awarded to those persons who define the 21st century and exemplify the best qualities of the human spirit. The Medal is awarded on each Senior Class Day to persons chosen by Vanderbilt's Chancellor with the advice of the faculty and students. Senior Class Day is the day before Vanderbilt's spring undergraduate commencement.

History

The tradition of Senior Class Day was started by Chancellor Gordon Gee

Gordon Gee

Elwood Gordon Gee is an American academic. He is in his second term as the president of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; he was previously president from 1990 to 1998....

, and the first Senior Class Day was in 2004. Vanderbilt awarded The Chancellor's Medal to Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

 and Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...

 on Senior Class Day in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal replaced The Chancellor's Medal in 2006. The first Nichols-Chancellor's Medal was awarded that year to disaster relief workers around the world and was accepted on their behalf by the first lady of the United States, Laura Bush

Laura Bush

Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...

.. The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal was created and endowed by Edward and Janice Nichols in memory of Ed's parents, Edward Carmack Nichols and Lucile Hamby Nichols. In 2009, a permanent endowment fund known as The Edward and Janice Nichols Endowment Fund was established at Vanderbilt to fund in perpetuity The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal and The Nichols Humanitarian Fund.

Nichols Humanitarian Fund

The Nichols Humanitarian Fund http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nichols-prize is a companion scholarship fund to The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal. The purpose of fund is to enable Vanderbilt students to volunteer for humanitarian causes. The fund awards scholarships based on merit and need to Vanderbilt students to pay the expenses of their humanitarian activities. It was established by Edward and Janice Nichols in 2006 in honor of Laura Bush's speech on Senior Class Day. The $100,000 cash prize that accompanied The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal that Mrs. Bush accepted was given to Vanderbilt to start the fund. The fund also receives substantial contributions each year from The Edward and Janice Nichols Endowment Fund. The first scholarships were awarded in 2007.

Medalists

2006 -- Awarded to disaster relief workers around the world and accepted on their behalf by Laura Bush

2007 -- Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...

2008 -- Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

2009 -- Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer and historian, and an oft-seen political commentator. She is the author of biographies of several U.S...

2010 -- Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....

2011 -- Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...