Advancing Rights and Freedoms

Science, Human Dignity, and the Nobel Prize

March 2, 2020 - May 28, 2021

NAS Building, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., East Gallery

Temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many scientists awarded the Nobel Prize have, in their personal and professional lives, also made significant contributions to the realization of human rights. This exhibition, presented by the Committee on Human Rights of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in cooperation with Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, celebrates those contributions. It highlights some of the many efforts by Nobel Laureates to promote and protect rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties.

Featuring portraits of selected Laureates and brief abstracts chronicling their human rights achievements, the exhibit honors Laureates in the sciences, together with members of the scientific community who have received the Nobel Peace Prize. The activities highlighted in this exhibit, which range from Denis Mukwege’s work to provide medical care for survivors of sexual violence to Yuan T. Lee’s efforts to call attention to the human rights implications of climate change, demonstrate the profound and enduring connections between science and human rights and the important role for science in advancing human dignity worldwide.

Pictured: Wangari Muta Maathai

This exhibition is organized in coordination with the Commitee on Human Rights of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.