On Friday, April 7, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (IEHS) presented History Professor Alan Kraut with its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Kraut was honored at the organization's annual banquet in New Orleans.

"I am truly delighted with this honor because it is from my colleagues in the immigration field and from an organization that has been my professional home since the 1970s," says Kraut.

The Immigration and Ethnic History Society is a 700-member organization of academic scholars, libraries, and research institutions. It promotes the study of the history of immigration to the United States and Canada from all parts of the world, including studies of the background of emigration in the countries of origin. It also promotes the study of ethnic groups in the United States, and the understanding of the processes of acculturation and of conflict. IEHS publishes the quarterly Journal of American Ethnic History and the semiannual Immigration and Ethnic History Newsletter.

The Lifetime Award

IEHS presents its Lifetime Achievement Award for exemplary work in the field of immigration and ethnic history. In presenting the award to Kraut, IEHS wrote:

"During his remarkable career, Professor Kraut has been a prolific scholar, an engaged public intellectual, an outstanding teacher, and a generous mentor. His publications have made significant contributions to the fields of US immigration and ethnic history, the history of medicine, and the US Civil War. The prize-winning author or editor of nine books, he is best known for Silent Travelers: Germs, Genes, and the "Immigrant Menace;" The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in American Society, 1880-1921 ; and Goldberger's War: The Life and Work of a Public Health Crusader .

Professor Kraut has also been an indefatigable public historian. He is a frequent consultant on PBS and History Channel documentaries and currently serves as chair of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island History Advisory Committee. Professor Kraut's record of service to the profession is equally impressive. Among other things, he is past president of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society and the Organization of American Historians, an elected fellow of the prestigious Society of American Historians, and non-resident fellow of the Migration Policy Institute.

Last but not least, Professor Kraut has been recognized for his teaching excellence at American University, and countless students and junior faculty have benefited from his generous and altruistic mentorship."