It’s time to get inspired as recipients of the 2026 Grawemeyer Awards visit Louisville to discuss their winning works. Each year, the University of Louisville recognizes novel thought in education, music composition, psychology and world order – alongside a religion prize with Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Honorees receive a $100,000 prize.
The community is invited to this year’s free 2026 Grawemeyer Awards Lecture Series:
- Psychology – Sir Simon Baron-Cohen Stanford, founder and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, will speak on Tuesday, April 14, 12 p.m., Middleton Auditorium – Room 101, Strickler Hall, about his pioneering scientific research into the prenatal sex steroid theory of autism. In 2021, he received a knighthood for his services to autism, and in 2023 he was awarded the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Millennium Medal, for his work on the prenatal sex steroid theory of autism and his contributions to autism research and the public understanding of neurodiversity.
- World Order – Joshua W. Busby, a professor of public affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, will speak on Tuesday, April 14, 1 p.m., Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library. In his book, “States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security,” Busby explains how the combination of state capacity, political exclusion and international assistance determine the degree to which the impacts of climate change affect security for a country’s citizens.
- Music Composition – Liza Lim, an Australian composer will give a lecture on Thursday, April 16, 3 p.m., Bird Hall, School of Music. Lim is recognized for her visionary work, “A Sutured World.” The piece was commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO)/Musica Viva, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Casa da Música Porto for the world-renowned cellist Nicolas Altstaedt.
- Religion – Candida Moss, a biblical scholar at the University of Birmingham, UK, will speak on Thursday, April 16, 7 p.m., Caldwell Chapel, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Throughout the history of Christianity, the authorship of the New Testament was credited mostly to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. But hidden behind these men are unnamed coauthors and collaborators. Their work is at the center of Moss’ influential book, “God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible.”
There was no education award given in 2026.
Charles Grawemeyer, a UofL alumnus and philanthropist, created the Grawemeyer Awards in 1984. An initial endowment of $9 million funded the awards, which have drawn nominations from around the world. Grawemeyer distinguished the awards by honoring ideas rather than life-long or publicized personal achievement, advocating that great ideas should be understandable to someone with general knowledge and not be the private treasure of academics.
Learn more about the lectures on the Grawemeyer Awards website.
Watch Kentucky Educational Television’s Inside Louisville segment on UofL’s Grawemeyer Awards and Grawemeyer Scholars Program.
