Radcliffe Day with Jodi Foster
Friday, May 9, 2025, 1:30–4:30 PM, 4:30 PM: Community reception in Radcliffe Yard or Zoom
Radcliffe will award the Radcliffe Medal to Jodie Foster
Each year, the Institute awards the Radcliffe Medal to an individual who embodies Radcliffe’s commitment to excellence and impact. The medal was first awarded to Lena Horne in 1987; recent honorees include Sonia Sotomayor, Ophelia Dahl, Sherrilyn Ifill, Melinda French Gates, and Dolores Huerta.
This year, Radcliffe recognize the Academy Award–winning actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster. They celebrate her barrier-breaking career, which has contributed to important progress in an industry that has long been male dominated, inspiring countless individuals in and beyond her field. In addition to her work in front of and behind the camera, she has advanced efforts to improve the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ young people.
Women have played essential roles in the American film industry since its inception—as actors, writers, directors, producers, and an array of other positions—but they have long been both underrepresented and underrecognized when compared with men. Academy Awards for Best Actress and Writer were awarded to women in 1929 and 1930, but it was not until 1973 that a woman received an Oscar as producer or until 2010 as director. Although representation and recognition of women in many aspects of filmmaking has increased in recent decades, the number of men still vastly exceeds women, and the statistics for women of color and for members of the LGBTQ+ communities are even lower.
On Radcliffe Day 2025, Radcliffe will engage industry and scholarly perspectives to consider women’s representation in film, both as subjects and as creators. Filmmakers, actors, writers, producers, and directors will discuss the importance of representation, gender and age stereotypes, role modeling, how films illuminate and affect social issues, and opportunities for future progress. Speakers will include Mira Nair ’79, Naomi McDougall Jones, and Stacy L. Smith.
Following a testimonial by Diana Nyad, Foster will engage in a keynote conversation with Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. The program will conclude with the formal award presentation by Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and a community reception for all registered in-person attendees.
Schedule: 1:30 PM , Radcliffe Day Panel Discussion, 3 PM , Testimonial, Keynote Conversation, and Radcliffe Medal Ceremony, 4:30 PM, Community Reception
To attend in person, each individual will need to register. To view this event online, each individual will need to register via Zoom.