Harvard Medical School Professor Paul E. Farmer became the fifth recipient of the annual Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, the Berggruen Institute announced Wednesday.
Farmer was awarded $1 million for his work in advancing “global public health equity” and pioneering healthcare systems, especially in Haiti and West Africa, according to the institute’s press release.
The award is given to “thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world,” the release reads. Farmer, who holds the highest faculty rank as a University professor, joins Harvard Law School alumna and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg among the award s recepients.