GOLD HONOR: Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, right, was recognized for his “distinguished service to society and humanity” recently by the National Institute of Social Sciences. Eisgruber received the award from Frederick Larsen, National Institute board president. (Photo by David DuPuy; Courtesy of the National Institute of Social Sciences)

By Matthew Hersh

Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber received the Gold Honor Medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences last month, recognizing him as among the “extraordinary individuals who have made the highest contribution to the improvement of society.”

Eisgruber was honored at the National Institute’s Annual Gold Medal Gala in New York City, and was lauded as a national leader in research and liberal arts education. Eisgruber was also commended for his commitments to free speech and academic inquiry, his record of public service, and his efforts to increase the representation of lower-income and first-generation college students at Princeton and higher education institutions across the country.

“I am grateful to the Institute for this honor and, more importantly, for its commitment to scholarship that deepens understanding of human society and enhances our civic and cultural lives,” said Eisgruber after receiving the award.

Frederick Larsen, board president of the Institute, called Eisgruber “a courageous public voice in the debate over the importance and independence of the university in society.”

“He advocates a model which embodies fairness, integrity, and rigorous pursuit of the truth, without yielding to internal or external pressure or the fashions of the day,” Larsen said in remarks delivered during the awards ceremony. “He understands higher education in America is a tremendously valuable asset to society overall, and with such prominence comes a great responsibility to fulfill that promise.”

Eisgruber has used his new book, Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right, as a platform to speak up for higher education and challenge misperceptions about free speech and academic freedom on America’s campuses. Despite the current national focus on speech on college campuses, Eisgruber has maintained that college campuses continue to be places of open discourse.

“Free speech is in better shape on campuses than in the rest of society, and it’s stronger now in important respects than it was at colleges or elsewhere during the recent tranquil past,” he told Princeton Alumni Weekly last fall at a book promotion stop at the Princeton Public Library.

Eisgruber, a 1983 Princeton alumnus, is a frequent voice on on-campus realities and current public perceptions on higher education, and has recently appeared on PBS and in the Chronicle of Higher Education. His recent article in The Atlantic, “The Myth of the Campus Snowflake,” focuses on the “gap between public perception and on-campus reality.”

“Cultural critics of a certain age love to describe the current generation of college students as fragile, steeped in ‘cancel culture,’ and reluctant to confront opposing ideas,” Eisgruber wrote. “My own experience, however, is largely the opposite. As I observe in my new book, Terms of Respect, most of the students with whom I talk are committed to constructive discussion and eager to encounter views different from their own.”

The National Institute sponsors speeches, discussions, and events that encourage non-partisan debate and discussion, celebrates those who have contributed to social improvement, and provides financial support to emerging scholars who are conducting research in the social sciences.

The organization has awarded the Gold Honor Medal for “distinguished service to society and humanity” since 1913, with past winners including U.S. presidents and Supreme Court justices, scientists, academics, authors, philanthropists, business leaders, and journalists. Eisgruber received the 2025 Gold Honor Medal along with Nobel Prize-winning labor economist Claudia Goldin and University of California-Berkeley psychologist and cognitive scientist Alison Gopnik. Other past awardees include Dr. Anthony Fauci, author and scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, author Doris Kearns Goodwin, New Yorker editor and author David Remnick, and documentarian and filmmaker Ken Burns.

Since becoming Princeton’s president in 2013, Eisgruber has led efforts to increase the number of first-generation and lower-income students attending colleges and universities across the country, as well as efforts to expand the number of students at Princeton from community college, veteran, and military backgrounds.

He serves as co-chair of the American Talent Initiative steering committee and on the board of directors of the Association of American Universities. His other honors include the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian honor given by the Navy, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.