Национальный фонд гуманитарных наук США: история и руководство.

Agency of the US government supporting the humanities

The tenth chair of the NEH was William Adams, who served from 2014 to 2017. President Obama nominated Adams on April 4, 2014; Adams was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on July 9, 2014. Adams appointed Margaret (Peggy) Plympton as the deputy NEH chair in January 2015. Before Adams's appointment, the NEH was headed by Acting Chair Carole M. Watson. Adams resigned his appointment on May 23, 2017, when he cited accomplishments under the "Common Good" initiative and the appointment of new administration officials.

Appointed under Donald Trump, from 2018 to 2022, Jon Parrish Peede served as Chair of the NEH. On February 10, 2020, the NEH was presented by the Trump administration with a FY2021 budget that included an orderly wind down of the agency.

Plans to close the agency were halted under the Biden administration and the NEH continues to operate and provides funding for various projects. In 2022, Shelly Lowe was confirmed as the chairman of the NEH. She is the first Native American to lead the agency.

The Endowment is directed by the NEH chair. Advising the chair is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The National Council members serve staggered six year terms.

The Endowment is directed by a chair, who has legal authority to approve all recommendations and award grants and cooperative agreements. The chair is nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the U. S. Senate. The chair's decisions are informed by recommendations from the National Council on the Humanities, peer reviewers who are selected to read each project proposal submitted to the Endowment, as well as by the Endowment's staff.

These are special priorities of the endowment that indicate critical areas of the humanities as identified by the NEH chair. They differ from the divisions of the endowment in that they do not sponsor or coordinate specific grant programs.

Bridging Cultures was an NEH initiative that explored ways the humanities promote understanding and mutual respect for people with diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives. Projects supported through this initiative focused on cultures globally as well as within the United States.

This initiative, launched in 2014, marks a priority to make awards that promote understanding of the military experience and to support returning veterans.

We the People was an NEH special funding stream initiated by NEH chair Coles, using dedicated funds available to each chair of the NEH, which was designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles. The initiative supports projects and programs that explore significant events and themes in American nation's history, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America. According to NEH, the initiative led a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all US citizens. The initiative was launched on Constitution Day, September 17, 2002, and active through 2009.

Since 1972 the NEH has sponsored the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which it describes as "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities." The Jefferson Lecturer is selected each year by the National Council on the Humanities. The honoree delivers a lecture in Washington, D. C., during the spring, and receives an honorarium of $10,000. The stated purpose of the honor is to recognize "an individual who has made significant scholarly contributions in the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way."

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year. From 1989 to 1996 the NEH awarded a similar prize known as the Charles Frankel Prize. The new award, a bronze medallion, was designed by David Macaulay, the 1995 winner of the Frankel Prize. Lists of the winners of the National Humanities Medal and the Frankel Prize are available at the NEH website.

Starting in 1969, the NEH published a periodical called Humanities; that original incarnation was discontinued in 1978. In 1980, Humanities magazine was relaunched It is published six times per year, with one cover article each year dedicated to profiling that year's Jefferson Lecturer. Most of its articles have some connection to NEH activities. The magazine's editor since 2007 has been journalist and author David Skinner. From 1990 until her death in 2007, Humanities was edited by Mary Lou Beatty (who had previously been a high ranking editor at the Washington Post).